Michael Schaeffer

Michael Schaeffer advises family, founder, sponsor, and employee-owned companies on achieving their strategic and financial objectives. He has provided strategic advice to clients around mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, ESOP transactions, special situations advisory, institutional private placements of debt and equity, strategic consulting, and other complex transactions. He has extensive experience providing advisory services to both public and private sector clients across a variety of sectors, including food and consumer products, healthcare, financial institutions, chemicals, aerospace and defense, engineering and construction, and manufacturing.

Mike joined Stout from Houlihan Lokey, where he was a member of the Board Advisory & Transaction Opinions practice. At Houlihan, Mike advised boards of directors, special committees, and other constituents of public and private clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, spinoffs, asset sales, and employee stock ownership plan-related transactions. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, he worked in RSM’s business valuation practice, where he provided valuations for gift and estate tax planning, financial reporting, and litigation support.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Finance and Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA), certified in business valuation, of the American Society of Appraisers.