An AGR roofing project is seen in this 2013 photo. (Facebook)
For the next two weeks, a judge in downtown Denver will consider the case of a once-thriving roofing company that has reportedly withered away after its co-owners came to hate each other and spent seven figures hurling accusations of theft and fraud back and forth in court.
“This is a vigorously and contentiously litigated business divorce,” saif Judge Jon Olafson.
“There is significant distrust and fatigue — by both parties — about this,” he wrote Oct. 9.
AGR, which is based in Nebraska and once had a Denver office, was owned by Ryan Scheeler and Tim Day until 2020. That year, they decided to sell the company. Matt Hirschbiel, a Denverite and friend of Scheeler, was interested in buying.
Hirschbiel’s plan, known as a roll-up merger, was to move AGR’s assets to a holding company, borrow money from lenders, acquire other roofing businesses through the holding company, and then sell the holding company to investors. Scheeler and Day were on board with that.
“But,” their attorney wrote recently, “all was not as it seemed.”
Hirschbiel calculated the company’s Nebraska earnings at $1.3 million, raised capital, and had Canopy Holdings buy AGR’s Nebraska operations for three times that amount — just shy of $4 million. The plan was to then borrow more money and buy AGR’s outposts in Denver and Minnesota.
That never happened. Scheeler blames Hirschbiel, who he came to see as incompetent, and Hirschbiel blames Scheeler, who he accuses of misleading him into valuing the company at $4 million. When lenders found what they believed to be discrepancies, he had to “halt all efforts to obtain any loans from any lender, preventing Canopy Holdings from executing its plan to acquire” other firms.
“Then, in late 2021 and January 2022, Mr. Hirschbiel and Mr. Scheeler’s relationship broke down and the two could no longer work together,” Hirschbiel’s attorneys explain. Scheeler said he has a text message in which Hirschbiel wrote of him, “I (expletive) hate this guy.”
Matt Hirschbiel, co-founder of Canopy Holdings. (LinkedIn)
The board of Canopy Holdings, which is based near I-25 and Colorado Boulevard, initially sided with Scheeler, since he is a roofer by trade and Hirschbiel is not, but later fired him as CEO in 2022. Hirschbiel claims this is because Scheeler wasn’t looking out for the company’s best interests; Scheeler said Hirschbiel pushed him out.
“Since Mr. Scheeler’s freezeout, the board of Canopy consists of Mr. Hirschbiel, two of his college friends and his family friend,” according to court documents Scheeler filed.
His firing triggered a clause that allowed Canopy to buy Scheeler’s shares in the holding company. He valued them at $1 million. Canopy valued them at just $97,000.
Since Scheeler’s departure in 2022, Hirschbiel has been paid $300,000 annually and Canopy has become “an executive-heavy company” that wasted $1.3 million on legal expenses and is hemorrhaging money, Scheeler claimed. AGR operations in Colorado and Minnesota also closed up shop.
“Mr. Hirschbiel does not know how to do the job of his subordinates as he has never actually done that work before,” Scheeler alleges, referring to roofing and other construction.
Scheeler is suing his former friend for a long list of alleged wrongdoing, including theft and wrongful termination. Hirschbiel is countersuing for fraud and breach of contract.
Judge Olafson will decide the contentious case after 10 days of testimony and arguments. Hirschbiel is seeking $200,000, plus punitive damages. Scheeler is asking for $16 million. Most of that is money he expected to earn if AGR and Canopy had remained successful.
Colin Moriarty at Underhill Law in Greenwood Village leads Scheeler’s legal team. William Jones in the Denver office of Lathrop GPM represents Hirschbiel and Canopy. Attorneys for both sides declined offers to discuss the case with BusinessDen last week.
An AGR roofing project is seen in this 2013 photo. (Facebook)
For the next two weeks, a judge in downtown Denver will consider the case of a once-thriving roofing company that has reportedly withered away after its co-owners came to hate each other and spent seven figures hurling accusations of theft and fraud back and forth in court.
“This is a vigorously and contentiously litigated business divorce,” saif Judge Jon Olafson.
“There is significant distrust and fatigue — by both parties — about this,” he wrote Oct. 9.
AGR, which is based in Nebraska and once had a Denver office, was owned by Ryan Scheeler and Tim Day until 2020. That year, they decided to sell the company. Matt Hirschbiel, a Denverite and friend of Scheeler, was interested in buying.
Hirschbiel’s plan, known as a roll-up merger, was to move AGR’s assets to a holding company, borrow money from lenders, acquire other roofing businesses through the holding company, and then sell the holding company to investors. Scheeler and Day were on board with that.
“But,” their attorney wrote recently, “all was not as it seemed.”
Hirschbiel calculated the company’s Nebraska earnings at $1.3 million, raised capital, and had Canopy Holdings buy AGR’s Nebraska operations for three times that amount — just shy of $4 million. The plan was to then borrow more money and buy AGR’s outposts in Denver and Minnesota.
That never happened. Scheeler blames Hirschbiel, who he came to see as incompetent, and Hirschbiel blames Scheeler, who he accuses of misleading him into valuing the company at $4 million. When lenders found what they believed to be discrepancies, he had to “halt all efforts to obtain any loans from any lender, preventing Canopy Holdings from executing its plan to acquire” other firms.
“Then, in late 2021 and January 2022, Mr. Hirschbiel and Mr. Scheeler’s relationship broke down and the two could no longer work together,” Hirschbiel’s attorneys explain. Scheeler said he has a text message in which Hirschbiel wrote of him, “I (expletive) hate this guy.”
Matt Hirschbiel, co-founder of Canopy Holdings. (LinkedIn)
The board of Canopy Holdings, which is based near I-25 and Colorado Boulevard, initially sided with Scheeler, since he is a roofer by trade and Hirschbiel is not, but later fired him as CEO in 2022. Hirschbiel claims this is because Scheeler wasn’t looking out for the company’s best interests; Scheeler said Hirschbiel pushed him out.
“Since Mr. Scheeler’s freezeout, the board of Canopy consists of Mr. Hirschbiel, two of his college friends and his family friend,” according to court documents Scheeler filed.
His firing triggered a clause that allowed Canopy to buy Scheeler’s shares in the holding company. He valued them at $1 million. Canopy valued them at just $97,000.
Since Scheeler’s departure in 2022, Hirschbiel has been paid $300,000 annually and Canopy has become “an executive-heavy company” that wasted $1.3 million on legal expenses and is hemorrhaging money, Scheeler claimed. AGR operations in Colorado and Minnesota also closed up shop.
“Mr. Hirschbiel does not know how to do the job of his subordinates as he has never actually done that work before,” Scheeler alleges, referring to roofing and other construction.
Scheeler is suing his former friend for a long list of alleged wrongdoing, including theft and wrongful termination. Hirschbiel is countersuing for fraud and breach of contract.
Judge Olafson will decide the contentious case after 10 days of testimony and arguments. Hirschbiel is seeking $200,000, plus punitive damages. Scheeler is asking for $16 million. Most of that is money he expected to earn if AGR and Canopy had remained successful.
Colin Moriarty at Underhill Law in Greenwood Village leads Scheeler’s legal team. William Jones in the Denver office of Lathrop GPM represents Hirschbiel and Canopy. Attorneys for both sides declined offers to discuss the case with BusinessDen last week.
