Crowe hires Doug Knoch to expand private equity services
Crowe US has hired private equity industry veteran Doug Knoch as managing director of strategy and corporate development for its advisory business unit.
Based in the accounting and consulting firm’s Chicago headquarters, Knoch will be tasked with expanding corporate development activities to grow the firm’s private equity service offerings.
Knoch brings more than 30 years of experience in the private equity and management consulting industries. He has spent the last 20+ years originating and managing private equity investments, most recently spending nine years as a managing director at Shorehill Capital, a Chicago-based mid-market private equity firm.
Before that, Knoch was a principal at CHS Capital. Earlier in his career, he was an investment banker in the corporate finance department of Mesirow Financial, where he focused on sell-side M&A engagements involving lower-middle market private companies.
Knoch began his career at Arthur Andersen, where he was a financial consultant in the strategy, finance, and economics practice focusing on dispute damage analysis, valuation, due diligence, and forensic accounting.
He has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“Doug’s specialized knowledge and range of expertise in the PE sector is a great addition to our service capabilities,” said Chad Kellar, managing partner of the Crowe advisory business unit. “He brings a strong skillset and a client-centered view that will help us strengthen and scale our client service and delivery capabilities in the PE sector, while also helping us pursue strategic investments to support our advisory practice expansion. Growing the PE group and the recent expansion of advisory services in key geographic markets is a strong indication of our intent to deliver a full service offering to our clients, in all phases of the deal life cycle.”
Crowe’s private equity group brings together the firm’s sector-focused tax consulting and advisory offerings – including valuation, M&A, operations, IT, strategic sourcing, restructuring, and ESG.
“Crowe has an impressive offering of advisory services and reputation for delivering great value to its clients. The firm has rapidly grown its activity with private equity firms and their portfolio companies over the past 20 years,” said Knoch. “I am excited to join Crowe and look forward to working with the team to expand our service offering and delivery capabilities for our clients to support future growth.”
Crowe has more than 4,000 people across offices in the US, Cayman Islands, and India. The firm is the 12th-largest accountancy in the US, with annual revenue of $1.06 billion.