Leveraged ESOPs

Matthew Hricko is Co-Head of the ESOP Valuation & Opinions practice. In this role, he leverages nearly two decades of financial advisory experience to provide investment banking and valuation consulting services to companies and trustees primarily for corporate finance and shareholder planning purposes. More specifically, Matthew has built expertise on projects involving interests held by Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), including consulting and analyses related to formation, sell-side transaction advisory, determination of transaction fairness, and annual valuations. Having worked on approximately 1,000 projects in his career, he brings extensive public and private experience to the firm. Drawing from advisory experience, Matthew served on the board of directors of Westland Resources. His role included guiding the executive team in the refinement of corporate strategy and financial goals. Along with the other outside directors, Matthew’s role was focused on enhancing corporate governance processes, improving risk management tools, and working on external audit and valuation processes. The board of directors guided a transformation from a founder-owned consultancy into a growth-oriented ESOP organization, ultimately leading to a partnership with a private equity-backed strategic acquirer to ensure scalable future expansion. In addition to his practical experience, Matthew has authored articles and presented at professional conferences on a variety of topics, involving ESOPs, board governance, valuation and various transaction structures. Prior to joining Stout, Matthew worked at ArcelorMittal in treasury and strategy roles.

Mr. Tu is a Director with BDO Capital Advisors, LLC. and has more than ten years of public accounting and investment banking experience, with a focus on executing ESOP transactions. He has advised middle market companies and their shareholders on leveraged ESOP formations, acquisition financing, and management buyouts in a variety of industries. Prior to joining BDO Capital Advisors, Mr. Tu served as a tax senior manager in BDO USA’s Global Employer Services practice where he consulted on leveraged ESOP transactions. Mr. Tu began his career in the assurance practice at BDO USA.