Steven E. Knoop, Managing Principal
Prior to working at Harris Nesbitt, Mr. Knoop was Co-Group Head of Advisory Services for Merrill Lynch in Chicago. Mr. Knoop started his career at Chemical Bank (the acquirer of JP Morgan/Chase) in New York and also worked after business school in the corporate finance and M&A areas of Smith Barney and Kidder Peabody in New York.
Mr. Knoop holds a MBA degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University where he had dual concentrations in finance and marketing and an undergraduate degree (Economics) from Denison University.
An avid competitive off-shore sailor, Mr. Knoop also serves as a publically elected Trustee of Barrington Hills, a member of the Kellogg School of Management Advisory Board and the Sigma Chi – MU Chapter Foundation. Mr. Knoop also started and ran the nationally recognized Chicago Senior Hockey League. Mr. Knoop and his wife Jackie have 4 children including identical twins.
William McDonnell, Managing Partner
Bill McDonnell has over 20 years of corporate finance
experience in both Banking and as a Chief Financial Officer. Before joining First Chicago Advisors, he was a CFO for a NYSE publicly traded company and for a private equity owned
company. As a CFO he focused on aligning financial strategy
with operations to improve shareholder value. He has led financial/operational turnarounds, refinancings and strategic planning.
Mr. McDonnell began his career at Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS) and
then moved to Harris Bank/Bank of
Having been both a CFO and a Banker, Mr. McDonnell has the unique experience of being both the provider and client for financial advisory, capital market and banking transactions during his career.
Mr. McDonnell holds an MIM degree from Thunderbird, The
American Graduate School of International Management and an undergraduate
degree (Political Science) from
He is a member of the Board of Directors for
John Honney, Managing Partner
Mr. Honney brings to First Chicago Advisors a wealth of experience which he gained as a senior member of the Bank of Montreal’s private equity fund. He is well versed in strategic planning, corporate governance and transaction execution. He has led balance sheet restructurings, capital raisings, strategic reviews, asset management projects, facility restructurings, divestitures and acquisitions. At the Bank of Montreal, John ultimately ran the equity fund’s Chicago office and was an integral member of a team that invested more than $150 million, orchestrated multiple out-of-bankruptcy restructurings, raised hundreds of millions of dollars in debt financing and led two successful senior management successions.John has also served in the role of Director of Corporate Development for a multinational steel products company and, in that capacity, has led much of the company’s strategic planning and transaction activity, including its pursuit of a $1.0 Billion competitor and its acquisition of a mechanical tube manufacturer.
John began his career as a financial analyst in New York with Goldman Sachs & Co.’s Economics Research Group. Upon completion of his two-year rotation, John joined Meadowcroft Associates, a boutique investment bank specializing in workouts and restructurings, where he advised unsecured creditor committees. While earning his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, John spent a summer with McKinsey & Co. He then worked as a consultant to M&T Bank before joining the Bank of Montreal. John has a B.A. cum laude from Middlebury College.
John is an instrument-rated, multi-engine, commercial pilot. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth and serves on the Alumni Admissions Committee for Middlebury College. He is a hockey and baseball fan and lives with his wife Amy in Chicago.