Stephan May

Stephan May is a corporate finance and M&A executive based in Ottawa. He built and led the mergers & acquisitions practice at Welch — launched in February 2015 under WelchGroup Consulting and later rebranded as Welch Capital Partners — where he served as Managing Director / Managing Partner. At the practice's 2015 launch he framed the opportunity around demographics: "I saw a void in the marketplace for mid-market businesses. As the baby boomers get ready to retire, succession planning is more important than ever before." He has since overseen more than 100 M&A and capital advisory engagements, advising owners on buying, selling, financing, and restructuring their companies.

Before Welch, May was Managing Director at Storeyworks, a boutique finance advisory firm, and Director of Corporate Development at TUC Brands (now Fully Managed IT), where he ran M&A, partnerships, and corporate finance. He holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa and is a graduate of the Algonquin College School of Business, and he earned the ICD.D corporate director designation from the Rotman School of Business (University of Toronto). In 2015 he was named to a "Top 40 Under 40" list.

Beyond deal advisory, May is an active board director. He chaired the board of MSP Corp., guiding the company through a strategic sale to a private equity buyer, and serves as Board Chair of Modo Yoga International and on the Dean's Advisory Board for the Telfer Capital Fund. On September 29, 2025 he was appointed to the Board of Directors of BluMetric Environmental Inc. (subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval), where the CEO cited his expertise in board governance, M&A, and financial strategy.

Note on current status: as of 2026 the Welch Capital Partners team page lists Peter Nesbitt as Managing Director and Candace Enman as President, and May no longer appears on it — suggesting he may have transitioned out of a day-to-day role since his September 2025 BluMetric appointment, though this could not be confirmed from a primary source.

• Focus is mid-market M&A and capital advisory, not venture/seed investing: buy-side and sell-side transactions, sourcing growth capital, financing, and restructuring for established private companies.
• Central thesis is succession and value maximization for owner-operated businesses — helping owners transition (sell, recapitalize, or grow via acquisition) as a generation of business owners retires.
• Works across a broad range of industries as a generalist advisor to mid-market companies across North America.
• As a director/advisor, brings a governance and capital-markets lens across financial services, technology, environment, and energy sectors.