Dive Brief:
- Schellman & Company, a provider of financial attestation and compliance, appointed Andy Goldstein to its top financial seat, according to a Sept. 27 press release.
- The appointment comes in the wake of pivotal growth plans for the company — potential firms have been identified for mergers and acquisitions, and establishing an international footprint is top of mind, said Avani Desai, the company’s president and CEO in an emailed response to questions.
- “Schellman’s primary focus now is 2023. This will be the first year that I’ve had my full C-suite team in place. We’ve already proven that we have the wherewithal to drive aggressive growth,” Desai wrote in an email.
Dive Insight:
Goldstein comes to Schellman’s financial helm with 22 years of C-suite leadership experience, including several previous CFO roles.
He has served as the finance chief at multiple private equity-sponsored portfolio companies in broadcast technology, digital media, data and sports & entertainment industries — most recently at The Switch, where he served as CFO since January 2020. His portfolio also includes CFO roles at Infogroup and Purch. Before that, he acted as CFO for big name sports brands including the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers, according to his Linkedin profile.
“In each of his CFO roles, Andy helped these organizations meet their ambitious growth objectives, allowing the sponsoring private equity firm to execute their desired exit strategy,” said Desai. “As it relates to Schellman specifically, given our specialization in IT compliance and cybersecurity — areas that continue to demand an increasing amount of focus and investments from organizations across all verticals — the growth potential seems almost limitless,” she said.
Goldstein’s predecessor, PJ Sheil, was the company’s first CFO and retired in January 2022 after the company's recapitalization with Lightyear Capital, said Desai. The financial services-focused private equity firm agreed to partner with Schellman in September 2021 to facilitate their next phase of growth, according to a company statement.
“Adding inorganic growth to the mix has long been a desire of mine, and the Lightyear acquisition helped accelerate that prospect. So, finding a CFO with M&A experience was critical to the hire. We do have some potential target firms identified, but nothing we can disclose at this time,” said Desai on the company’s plans for the near future in terms of M&As.
Schellman, offering clients information technology and cybersecurity audits and assessments — including SOC examinations and ISO certifications drew in $102 million for revenue for FY2021, according to the company website. The private firm has over 900 clients, including numerous publicly traded and Fortune 500 companies.
