Novara Advisory Partners Launches as World’s First AI-Integrated Global Professional Services Firm, Unifying Investment Banking, Legal, and Strategy

July 13, 2026 | London, Singapore, Tokyo, New York

Integration of three existing businesses: cross-border investment banking, global legal team, and a Singapore-regulated fund-backed strategic advisory

Simultaneous launch in London, Singapore, Tokyo, and New York. Ending the era of siloed professional advice

Novara Advisory Partners ("Novara") today announces the launch of the world’s first AI-driven professional services firm, integrating investment banking, corporate legal, and strategic advisory onto a single global platform. Led by Marcus Walter, Global Managing Partner and CEO, formerly of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the firm launches with four hubs in London, Singapore, Tokyo, and New York.

Novara was formed by integrating three previously independent businesses. The Singapore-based advisory firm Ignosi Partners has merged with Novara Global Capital VCC, a Variable Capital Company (VCC) in Singapore (※1) rebranded from Angsana Merchant Capital (※2). The VCC’s investment mandate includes strategic advisory and special situations investing. These entities form the foundation of Novara Ignosi, led by Partner and Head of Investment Banking Toshihiko Toyokawa, and Novara Strategy, led by Partner and Head of Strategic Advisory Robert Meyer. Joining them is Novara Law, a team established to provide legal counsel in corporate law, capital markets, and intellectual property across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, completing the firm’s three pillars.

Novara’s premise is simple. Truly critical corporate decisions rarely fall within a single domain. Strategic choices that shape transactions and legal considerations are inseparable. Yet clients still engage separate advisors for each specialty, forced to reconcile conflicting recommendations themselves. This results in persistent gaps between advice, accumulating unnecessary cost, time, and complexity. To bridge this divide, Novara enables clients worldwide to entrust a single team with a unified mandate through three integrated pillars:

Novara Ignosi: Investment banking division handling corporate finance, M&A, and deal advisory

Novara Law: Legal division responsible for cross-border legal execution and transactional counsel. Based in London and Tokyo, with operations in Singapore and New York through local partners

Novara Strategy: Strategic advisory division, also serving as a Singapore-based regulated fund platform for alternative asset management and strategic capital deployment

"The ideal form of a professional firm evolves with each generation," says Walter. "For decades, the billable hour was central. We asked a different question: What if we placed AI at the core, prioritized client outcomes over firm profitability, and rebuilt the firm from scratch? Novara is our answer. We combine senior expertise across legal, finance, and strategy with technology that eliminates wasteful processes and inefficiencies."

Novara has designed its entire operation to maximize AI’s potential. Proprietary AI agents developed in-house handle initial legal tasks such as contract markup and drafting revision suggestions. Lawyers retain responsibility for legal judgment, structuring, and strategic counsel, enabling seasoned practitioners to dedicate their time to work where their expertise matters most. The same model applies to investment banking: AI agents perform preparatory analysis like due diligence and benchmarking, freeing senior bankers to focus on client engagement, negotiation, and execution.

At the foundation of this relationship is a continuous record of client positions and intentions, built over multiple transactions. With each engagement, Novara deepens its understanding of each client’s business, enabling increasingly tailored and effective advice over time. As a result, a lean, senior-led team delivers world-class service at competitive costs—even against firms many times its size. Fees are structured not by time, but by outcomes.

"Our clients operate in industries being fundamentally reshaped by technology," says Toyokawa, formerly of PwC and LY Corporation (a SoftBank Group company). "Despite the world changing rapidly, the advisory advice companies receive hasn’t kept pace. It arrives fragmented, buried under layers of process from multiple firms. So we built Novara starting from client needs. Our proprietary platform handles routine tasks, allowing dealmakers to focus on what truly matters: reading the market, structuring deals, and being by the client’s side when it counts. We deliver a single global team that deeply understands their industry and moves at the speed of change."

The third pillar extends Novara’s advice beyond transaction boundaries. "Much of what determines a deal’s value is created before it begins and after it ends," says Meyer, co-founder of SGX-listed Halcyon Agri. "Decisions about which markets to enter, what business model to adopt, and where to deploy capital—these are exactly what Novara Strategy supports. Moreover, through our regulated fund platform, we can co-invest alongside clients when appropriate. That’s how we deliver advice with conviction."

Novara advises founders, boards, investors, and institutional clients. It specializes in fast-moving sectors including technology and digital infrastructure, energy and renewables, life sciences and healthcare, financial services and digital assets, consumer goods and food, and defense and security.

※1: Novara Global Capital VCC is a Singapore-regulated vehicle under Novara Strategy. https://prtimes.jp/m