Bob Bartell, CFA, is Managing Director and President of Kroll Corporate Finance and CEO of Kroll Securities, LLC. He is also a FINRA Registered Broker/Trader. Bob joined Kroll in 1997 and specializes in a wide range of corporate finance advisory assignments including equity opinions, credit opinions, mergers and acquisitions advisory, financial restructurings, ESOP trainings, shareholder litigation, financial due diligence, strategic advice and debt advice.
Bob has extensive experience in cross-border M&A transactions. From 2008 to 2010, he expanded the firm’s European corporate finance practice while working in the firm’s London office, through a combination of acquisitions and strategic hires. Bob was instrumental in opening the company’s Corporate Finance branches in Brazil, China and India. He has advised on a number of privatization transactions involving UK, Chinese, French, Canadian and Brazilian listed companies. Prior to joining Kroll, Bob worked in the commercial banking department of BMO Harris.
Bob holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois-Champaign. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and holds FINRA Series 7, 79, 24 and 63 licenses. Bob is currently a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives Club of Chicago and the Chicago Commonwealth Club. He also completed Stanford University’s GSB Executive Leadership Online (LEAD) program.
From 2015-2020, Bob volunteered as a board member of Camp Kesem, a national community, led by passionate student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parents’ cancer. Bob also serves on the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois committee for the Middle Market Open charity event and the committee for the Lurie Children’s Hospital charity event.
A few of Bob’s financial advisory engagements include:
- Advised the board of Macy’s Inc., the largest US department store operator measured by sales on its debt refinancing and recapitalization
- Advised the board of directors of Elanco Animal Health and issued a fairness opinion in connection with its $7.6 billion acquisition of the animal health business of Bayer AG, creating one of the largest leading independent veterinary medicine companies in the world
- Financial advisor to the board of directors of Johnson Controls International plc, a global diversified industrial company, in connection with the sale of its Power Solutions business (n/k/a Clarios, LLC), a global automotive battery business, to Brookfield Business Partners LP
- M&A advisor to Merit Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, on the sale of Icon Group to MC Group, a portfolio company of Arcapita Private Equity, creating one of the largest major signage and display companies in the United States
- Appointed as independent valuation expert by LyondellBasell NV (LBI) as debtor in connection with its motion to obtain approval of its $8 billion debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Manhattan (LBI was the largest post-loan DIP petition ever approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court)
- Equity and credit ratings rendered to numerous alternative asset managers including Hellman & Friedman, Merit Capital, Wind Point Capital, Permira, Oaktree Capital Management, Citadel, Sun Capital, SK Capital, KKR, Och-Ziff, Terra Firma, Terra Firma, Ontario Teachers, The Carlyle Group, Apollo, Silver Lake Capital
- Member of Kroll’s Internal Opinions Technical Review Panel who advised Elizabeth Warren, Chair, of the Congressional Oversight Panel analyzing the issue surrounding the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) as to whether U.S. Department policy of the Treasury (Treasury) of injecting liquidity into financial institutions had resulted in fair treatment for taxpayers
- Advised the ESOP Trustee in connection with the ESOP’s purchase of the shares of KLJ Solutions, a North Dakota-based civil engineering services company
- Advising the special committee of independent directors of Ridgewood Power in connection with the sale of its UK renewable energy assets to a subsidiary of Macquarie Group
- Advising on the restructuring of Citigroup and JP Morgan as junior creditors in connection with the financial restructuring of Schoeller Arca, NV based in the Netherlands
- Rendered a fairness opinion to the ESOP trustee of the ESOP of Verisk Analytics, Inc., in connection with the sale of ESOP stock in the Verisk IPO (Verisk was the largest IPO listed in the United States in 2009)
- Rendered a fairness opinion to the board of directors of Lacie, a French listed company, in connection with its acquisition of the Swiss company Caledio
- Rendered a solvency opinion to the Hill-Rom board of directors in connection with the spin-off of Batesville Casket
- Advising the Sara Lee Corporation Board of Directors in connection with the leveraged spin-off of Hanesbrand Apparel
- Advised the board of directors of Fortune Brands on its spin-offs and divestitures of its golf and building products units and the viability of the stayco spirits business;
- Sell-side M&A advisor to family-owned Peer Bearing Company and its operations in China and Thailand in connection with its sale to Sweden-based SKF AB
- Sell-side M&A advising Clear Pack Company on its sale to Sonoco Products Company
- M&A sell-side advice to Marlin Firearms Company on its sale to Remington Arms Company
- Advised buy-side M&A of a private investment firm on its acquisition of Continental Midland/Jacobson Fasters from Alcoa and advised sell-side M&A of Continental Midland on its sale to Monomoy Capital, an equity fund -investment
- Rendered a fairness opinion to KKR in connection with the financial restructurings of the related funds of ATU GmbH, a German-based automotive parts and gas station chain, and KION GmbH, a Germany-based handling company
- Issued a BEV Going Concern opinion to Terra Firma in connection with the recapitalization of Tank & Rast, a German motorway services operator and its sale of a 50% stake to Deutsche Bank
- Rendered a fairness opinion to the board of directors of Compass Diversified Trust in connection with its IPO of its permanent PE capital vehicle listed on the New York Stock Exchange
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