June 23, 2026 - Westlake Village, CA - GA Advisory & Valuation Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Great American Holdings, LLC ("GA Group"), an industry-leading provider of advisory, valuation, field exam, liquidation, asset-based lending, investment banking, restructuring advisory, and real estate services, and majority-owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. ("Oaktree"), today announced the official launch of its dedicated Financial Due Diligence (Quality of Earnings or QoE) Practice. Ryan Irby, Founder of Traders Oak Capital Advisors, has been appointed Managing Director and National Practice Leader to spearhead the growth of this offering.
Managing Director & National Practice Leader,
GA Advisory & Valuation Services
Ryan brings more than 13 years of
experience building and leading QoE practices and has advised on over 400
transactions ranging from under $10 million to more than $500 million in
enterprise value. His expertise spans buy-side and sell-side financial due
diligence, working capital analysis, and transaction advisory services for
private equity firms, investment banks, corporate buyers, family offices, and
other investors.
Prior to joining GA Group, Ryan was the
Founder and Managing Member of Traders Oak Capital Advisors, a boutique due
diligence and M&A advisory firm. He has also held senior leadership roles
at ADG Venture Group, BVWD, LLP, Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP, and Weaver and
Tidwell, LLP. Ryan's background includes extensive industry experience across healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, energy, oilfield services, business
services, technology, construction, and with large carve-out transactions. He
is known for combining deep GAAP accounting knowledge, advanced financial
modeling skills, and practical transaction insight to help clients identify
risks, validate earnings, and maximize deal value.
Senior Managing Director,
Financial Advisory Services
"Ryan's depth of experience and proven
leadership in transaction advisory services make him the ideal person to build
and lead our QoE practice," said Curt Germany, Senior Managing Director and
National Practice Leader for GA Group Financial Advisory Services. "His
addition represents a major milestone in completing our full suite of financial
advisory services and strengthens our ability to support clients across every
stage of the M&A lifecycle."
With this addition, GA Group completes its
"Core 4" Financial Advisory Services in support of M&A activity: Valuation,
Transaction Opinions, CFO Advisory, and Financial Due Diligence (QoE). GA
Group's Financial Advisory Services practice provides financial clarity to help
clients make better decisions and achieve stronger outcomes. The team supports
acquisitions, divestitures, carveouts, and complex financial analyses through
services including buy-side and sell-side QoE, transaction support, working
capital analysis and dispute resolution, and M&A valuation services.
Ryan holds a Bachelor of Business
Administration and a Master of Science in Finance from Texas A&M
University, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Southern
Methodist University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and served as Executive
Committee Member and Treasurer of the DFW Chapter of the Association for
Corporate Growth. He is also a member of the AICPA and TSCPA.
About GA Group
GA Group is a privately held global firm
offering a comprehensive set of tailored solutions to meet our clients' diverse
needs. Our experts provide advisory and valuation services, as well as
monetize, lend against, and acquire assets across a broad range of sectors from
both healthy and distressed companies. GA Group and its predecessors are
celebrating 50 years of customer service, and the company's leadership has over
100 years of collective experience in the industry. GA Group is majority-owned
by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. For more information,
please visit www.gagroup.com.
Media: marketing@gagroup.com
Source: GA Group