Firm Culture and History
Exceptional Values, Exceptional Service
Our Core Values
We have taken large strides to ensure that excellence comes from within our firm. Our people make us the great firm that we are, and the exceptional service we provide clients is directly related to how we serve our own employees. In turn, Stout fosters a culture that allows employees to grow personally and professionally.
Positive & Team-Oriented |
Accountable |
Committed |
Entrepreneurial |
Relationship-Focused |
Super-Responsive & Great at Communicating |
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Our Story
The commitment to our values is reflected in the firm's rich history and has helped us grow to where we are today.
1991
Craige Stout founds the firm in Detroit, providing valuation services to clients. Beginning with a two-person team in a living room, the Detroit office has grown to be one of our largest in terms of both personnel and revenue.
1997
We establish our Investment Banking group, offering advice on mergers and acquisitions, private capital raising, and other services for business owners, private equity portfolio companies, and corporate divisions.
1998
Our Disputes, Claims, & Investigations group launches, delivering a variety of services, including expert testimony, litigation consulting, investigations, compliance, and special assignments.
2000
We expand our physical presence with an office in downtown Cleveland.
2001
Our Chicago office opens. The office has become the largest at the firm in terms of both personnel and revenue.
2004
We open our Tysons Corner office in Virginia, servicing the Washington, DC, metropolitan region.
2007
Our East Coast footprint grows with the opening of our New York office. Also during the year, we relocate our corporate headquarters to Chicago.
2011
We expand to the West Coast with our new Los Angeles location.
2012
Our growth continues as we complete our first major acquisition with the purchase of valuation and investment banking firm Howard Frazier Barker Elliott (HFBE). Through this transaction, we establish our Dallas and Houston offices, providing a solid foundation in Texas. Separately, we open offices in Atlanta and Washington, DC, strengthening our East Coast base.
2014
With the growth of our Disputes, Claims, & Investigations practice, we open our Baltimore office – our third in the Mid-Atlantic region – and expand our DC office. We also establish a Denver office to better serve clients in the Mountain states.
2016
In another year of big moves, we celebrate our 25th anniversary. We complete our acquisition of Natoma Partners, fortifying our Disputes, Claims, & Investigations services. We also open offices in Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, MI, and Irvine, CA.
2017
We launch our new brand – Stout – leveraging existing brand equity and expertise across our core services. We also acquire FMV Opinions, further expanding our Valuation Advisory group. In addition, we strengthen our global reach, opening a new office in Lausanne, Switzerland.
2018
Our global footprint expands to Asia, as we establish new offices in Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong, which help broaden our transaction coverage in these regions.
2019
We broaden our presence and transaction coverage in Europe, with new offices in Berlin and Milan. We also expand on the West Coast by opening an office in San Francisco. In addition, we launch our Transformative Change consulting practice.
2020
We establish a new office in London, bolstering our transaction coverage in the Nordic and Western European markets. We launch our Accounting and Reporting Advisory practice and expand our Transaction Advisory Group with Financial Due Diligence and Tax Services.
2021
Stout celebrates 30 years. We partner with Audax Private Equity, and acquire Secura Risk Management. We also expand our Accounting and Reporting Advisory practice with technical accounting, public company readiness, finance integration, and internal controls consulting.
2022
We integrate four firms: Genova Group, Davis & Hosfield, The Claro Group, and Vantage Point Advisors. We also open new offices in Charlotte and San Diego.
2023
We acquire Torrey Partners, deepening our bench of expert consultants and testifiers.