Steven E. Knoop, Managing Principal
Mr. Knoop has been a mergers and acquisitions specialist throughout most of his 31 year career. Before founding First Chicago Advisors, he was Co-Group Leader and Managing Director of the U.S. Mergers and Acquisitions group at Harris Nesbitt/ BMO Capital. There he led his clients through numerous successful engagements; many of which involved complex financial and legal structures. He has been involved in many strategic public and private transactions including a number of unsolicited bid and defense engagements. Separately, Mr. Knoop has also acted as a principal in several transactions.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 groups of Smith Barney and Kidder Peabody in New York.
Mr. Knoop holds a MBA degree from the Kellogg 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.
Michael M. Bastian, Managing Partner
Mr. Bastian has over 25 years of investment banking experience advising corporate clients in the
execution of mergers and acquisitions transactions and as a strategic advisor.
Prior to joining First Chicago Advisors, Mr. Bastian was a Managing Director in Bank of America
Merrill Lynch's Global Investment Banking/Mergers and Acquisitions Group. He was responsible
for leading the mergers and acquisitions advisory practice for Global Industrials Group clients in
the middle market.
Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mr. Bastian was Head of LaSalle Corporate
Finance, the U.S. mergers and acquisition affiliate of the ABN AMRO Group. He was a member of ABN AMRO Group's North American Fairness Opinion Committee. Before he joined LaSalle Corporate Finance, Mr. Bastian was with Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Investment Banking/Middle Market M&A group. Mr. Bastian initiated and ran Merrill Lynch's Middle Market Food, Building Sector and Global Growth M&A advisory practices. Mr. Bastian
started his career in the Tax Department at Price Waterhouse & Co. in Michigan and London.
Mr. Bastian earned a MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA from Michigan State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
James D. Treco, Managing Partner
Mr. Treco has more than 30 years of experience, principally with Salomon Brothers and its successor, Citigroup. Based in both the United States and the United Kingdom, he has worked ona variety of projects for clients around the globe, including in the Americas (North, South and Central), in Europe (Western and Eastern as well as Russia), in Africa (principally South Africa),
in greater Asia (China and India), and in Australia.
From 1996 to 2008, Mr. Treco was based in London. After being moved there by Salomon Brothers in March of 1996, he co-founded the firm’s Industrial Group in Europe, which generated peak revenues of $242mm. Jamie built lasting relationships with industrial clients and advised them
on strategy, capital raising, and mergers and acquisitions.
From 1984 to 1996, Mr. Treco was based in New York City, where he gained exposure in a variety of groups at Salomon Brothers as his career developed. He worked in the Large Capitalization Group with Fortune 500 companies, in the Technology and Health Care Group with emerging companies, and in the Industrial Group with a variety of mid- and large-capitalization industrial companies ranging in size from $10 million in EBITDA to $1 billion in EBITDA. He assisted clients with the full range of investment banking products and also completed a successful restructuring of a Fortune 500 company.
Mr. Treco received a BA from Yale University in 1977 and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University in 1984.
Paul G. Majerus, Managing Partner
Mr. Majerus has extensive Mergers & Acquisitions and corporate finance related experience including M&A transaction execution and structuring, valuation and fairness opinion assignments, capital structure advisory, and capital raising assignments for both public and privately held companies. Mr. Majerus has a successful record of engagements for clients in a variety of industries, including diversified manufacturing and distribution, food & agribusiness, business services, consumer products and transportation.
Prior to joining First Chicago Advisors, Mr. Majerus spent the majority of his career with BMO Capital Markets as Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions group. He has extensive experience working with privately held businesses including multi-generation family ownership.
He specializes in evaluating the opportunities and challenges common to many privately held businesses and their shareholders and devising and executing capital markets strategies designed to create or realize value. Mr. Majerus has
also been affiliated with Arvon Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising advice for middle market businesses.
Mr. Majerus earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Iowa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loras College and is a Certified Public Accountant.