Milwaukee-based valuation firm Valuation Research Corp. has named Justin Johnson as its new co-CEO.
Johnson, previously managing partner of VRC’s San Francisco office, will work in his new role alongside co-CEO PJ Patel.
Johnson replaces Bill Hughes, who stepped down after 16 years as co-CEO. Patel said Hughes saw it as the “right time” to transition out of his position.
“He believes in progressive change, as does my predecessor Mark Brattebo, so this is something we’ve been talking about for two and a half or three years,” Patel said.
Johnson will continue to operate in the San Francisco office, overseeing VRC’s West Coast and Central regions. Patel will remain in Princeton, New Jersey, managing the East Coast region.
“I’m eager to collaborate with PJ as we build on the collective strengths of everyone at VRC,” said Johnson. “Since my first day, VRC has given me opportunities to grow, and I’m thankful for this new challenge to better serve my colleagues and clients.”
Johnson is credited with starting VRC’s San Francisco office and building it into one of the company’s leading practices with an emphasis on private equity clients and private equity portfolio companies.
Johnson focuses on solvency opinions, fairness opinions and capital surplus opinions as well as conducting valuations for investment, financial reporting and tax purposes.
“Justin is an admirable example of the kind of technical knowledge we’re known for in the industry,” Patel said. “Growing our team from the inside up is one of the reasons why we have long tenures and seasoned experts like Justin to help drive VRC while keeping long-standing relationships with our clients.”
Patel said the company’s co-CEO structure allows the two leaders to focus on the development of VRC while supporting clients and being involved in day-to-day technical work.
“It’s something that works well for our company and in our industry,” Patel said. “When you look at other financial services companies, it’s not unusual to have co-heads or a small group of people that lead a practice or service line, so I think this is in line with that.”
VRC was founded in 1975 and has more than 1,000 professionals at offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, New York, Princeton, San Francisco and Tampa, and international affiliates in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Luxembourg, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom.
