Grounded in the performance discipline of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s manufacturing operations — where budgeting, KPI management, and operational accountability operated at institutional scale — the founding approach at MSA is built on a single principle: finance that drives decisions, not just records them. That foundation was reinforced through an MBA pursued while working full time, and through fifteen years of embedded operating experience in capital-intensive industrial platforms where the CFO function was expected to be a commercial partner to ownership, not a back-office function.
From 2013 through 2021, the principal served as CFO of a multi-entity plastics recycling and packaging platform, building financial infrastructure from the ground up and scaling operations through greenfield expansion, tuck-in acquisition, and complex capital formation. The platform grew from a single facility to over $100 million in revenue across multiple operating entities — funded through bank debt, $60 million and $80 million municipal bond-funded facility expansions, and an institutional equity recapitalization. The acquisition and integration of a thermoforming operation added $30–$40 million in revenue and required simultaneous systems integration and consolidated governance build. When the business encountered financial stress in 2020, the engagement shifted to liquidity management, DIP financing, and a full Chapter 11 restructuring that resulted in approximately $200 million of aggregate asset value realized and full repayment of debt stakeholders across four independent asset-level sales.
Following that process, the principal co-founded Circularix, a next-generation recycling platform structured as a joint venture with Macquarie Asset Management. Built from pre-revenue inception with sponsor-style governance installed before the first dollar of revenue, the platform became operational in early 2023, scaled to approximately $50 million in revenue, achieved positive EBITDA, and supported a platform valuation of approximately $92 million — with expansion capital commitments secured for the next phase of growth prior to transition.
The most recent engagement, as inaugural CFO of Harbor Pipe & Steel — a $150 million founder-led steel service center that had never previously employed a CFO — further demonstrated the capacity to install institutional financial infrastructure in businesses that have outgrown founder-led finance. Within the first operating year, the engagement rebuilt reporting architecture, implemented KPI dashboards, introduced formal budgeting and forecasting cadence, and renegotiated bank covenants to better reflect the company’s operating profile.
Vivian Bui serves as Founding Partner, overseeing client engagement, strategic positioning, and advisory delivery. Her background in operations and client relationship management brings a complementary lens to MSA’s principal team — ensuring that institutional financial work translates into decisions that operators can execute.
The Macquarie Partnership
As Founding CFO for Circularix, the engagement established governance, reporting, and financial infrastructure for an institutional joint venture platform from pre-revenue inception. The platform scaled to approximately $50M in revenue, achieved positive EBITDA, and supported a platform valuation of ~$92M — with expansion commitments secured prior to transition.