Matthew Drake is a managing director with FMI Capital Advisors, FMI Corporation’s registered investment banking subsidiary. Matt works exclusively in the Built Environment with privately held businesses and their shareholders on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), ESOP advisory and internal stock transfers. Matt leads FMI’s ESOP and ownership transfer practices. Matt is a frequent speaker at local and national conferences on topics such as ownership transition and ESOPs. He is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) and The ESOP Association.

Prior to joining FMI, Matt was a vice president with Prairie Capital Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on supporting middle market, privately held businesses on M&A and ESOP advisory. Prior to joining Prairie Capital Advisors, Matt was a senior manager in corporate development at Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:REGI), a global biofuels and renewable chemicals producer. At REGI, Matt was a member of the corporate team that led financing, strategy, and merger and acquisition decisions. At REG, Matt executed over $500 million of capital raising and merger and acquisition activity, including the company’s first European acquisition. Matt was also a legislative intern in the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C.

Matt received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. He also holds his Limited Representative-Investment Banking license (Series 79) and Uniform Securities Agent license (Series 63) from the Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA.