Stout announces the significant expansion of its Financial & Tax Due Diligence practices as several senior professionals join the firm.

Stout veterans Joe Randolph and Jeff Zellner have been named Co-Leaders of the Financial Due Diligence practice, and Stout welcomes new Managing Directors Harry Gruits and John Ruckstuhl. Harry Gruits joins Stout from the Deals practice at PwC, and John Ruckstuhl previously led the Transaction Advisory Services group at EisnerAmper.

“Expanding capacity across our Financial Due Diligence team has been an absolute priority this year,” explained Zellner. “The size of our team has more than doubled as we’ve added talent at every level. We’re thrilled to have Harry, John, and others join the group as we accelerate through this next phase of growth.”

“M&A activity in the middle market has held up fairly well, and demand for diligence services remains strong,” added Randolph. “Our talent additions ensure our team will remain highly responsive and continue to deliver top-caliber diligence services.”

Stout’s Tax Due Diligence & Structuring team has also expanded as the firm welcomes Jerry Schwartzman as Managing Director and Head of M&A Tax Services. Jerry previously led tax due diligence groups at Houlihan Lokey and Duff & Phelps, and he began his career with the National Office of the IRS. Also joining the M&A Tax Services group is Director Joel Wukelic. Joel is a transactional attorney and CPA and worked most recently in the M&A Transaction Services group at Deloitte. Additional M&A tax resources will be added by the end of the year.

“Jerry and Joel are fantastic additions to the Tax Advisory Services team and bring a wealth of tax-related deal experience as well as provide in-house tax resources for Stout’s Valuation, Investment Banking, and Disputes, Claims, and Investigations practices,” said John Mertz, Managing Director and Head of Tax Advisory Services.

“It’s never been a more exciting time to be at Stout,” said Cory Thompson, President of Transaction Advisory. “We’re attracting diverse talent who are having an immediate impact on our growth trajectory and who share our vision of delivering deep insight and expertise across the M&A transaction lifecycle, including services related to strategy, due diligence, execution and structuring, and integration.