Bob Bartell

Bob

Bartell, CFA

President, Corporate Finance

Bob Bartell, CFA, is a Managing Director and President of Kroll Corporate Finance and CEO of Kroll Securities, LLC, based in Chicago. He’s also a FINRA-registered broker/dealer. Bob joined the firm in 1997 and specializes in a broad array of corporate finance advisory engagements, including fairness opinions, solvency opinions, M&A advisory, financial restructurings, ESOP formations, shareholder disputes, financial due diligence, strategic advisory and debt advisory.

Corporate Finance Insights – Current Trends in Capital Markets
Kroll Client Stories with Bob Bartell
Watch the video to discover how Kroll’s M&A Advisory and Investigations teams helped a family company sell their business through constructing a robust financial projection model to attract lenders and investors.

Bob has extensive experience in cross-border M&A transactions. He expanded the firm’s European Corporate Finance practice while working at the firm’s London office, during 2008-2010, through a combination of acquisitions and strategic hires. Bob was instrumental in opening the firm’s Corporate Finance branches in Brazil, China and India. He has advised on a number of going-private transactions involving UK, Chinese, French, Canadian and Brazilian companies listed on public stock exchanges. Before joining Kroll, Bob worked in the commercial banking department at BMO Harris.

Bob holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in agricultural economics from The University of Illinois-Champaign. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and holds the 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 has also completed the eLearning executive leadership program (LEAD) at Stanford University’s GSB.

Watch Bob Bartell on Bloomberg Market's The Close

From 2015 through 2020, Bob volunteered as a member of the board of directors of Camp Kesem, a nationwide community driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer. Bob also serves on the committee of the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois 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 client engagements include:

  • Advised the board of directors of Macy’s Inc., the largest U.S. department store operator as measured by sales on its debt refinancing and recapitalization
  • Advised the board of directors of Elanco Animal Health and rendered a fairness opinion in connection with its $7.6 billion acquisition of Bayer AG’s animal health business, creating one of the largest stand-alone veterinary-medicine companies in the world
  • Financial advisor to the board of directors of Johnson Controls International plc, a diversified global industrials 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
  • Sell-side M&A advisor to Merit Capital, a middle-market PE firm, in connection with the sale of Icon Group to MC Group, a portfolio company of Arcapita Private Equity, creating one of the largest signage and display firms in the U.S.
  • Appointed as the independent valuation expert by LyondellBasell NV (LBI) as debtor in connection with its motion to seek 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-petition DIP loan ever approved in U.S. bankruptcy courts)
  • Rendered fairness and solvency opinions 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 and Silver Lake Capital
  • Member of Kroll’s internal opinions technical review committee that advised Elizabeth Warren, Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, analyzing the question surrounding the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as to whether the U.S. Department of the Treasury's ("Treasury") policy of injecting cash into financial institutions had resulted in a fair deal for taxpayers
  • Advised the ESOP Trustee in connection with the ESOP's purchase of the stock of KLJ Solutions, a civil engineering services firm based in North Dakota
  • Advised the special committee of independent directors of Ridgewood Power in connection with the sale of its UK clean power renewable energy assets to an affiliate of Macquarie Group
  • Restructuring advisor to Citigroup and JP Morgan as junior debt holders in connection with the financial restructuring of Schoeller Arca, NV based in the Netherlands
  • Rendered a fairness opinion to the ESOP Trustee of the Verisk Analytics, Inc. ESOP, in connection with the ESOP's sale of shares in the Verisk IPO (Verisk was the largest U.S. IPO of 2009)
  • Rendered a fairness opinion to the board of directors of French stock exchange-listed Lacie in connection with its acquisition of Swiss-based Caledio
  • Rendered a solvency opinion to the board of directors of Hill-Rom in connection with the spin-off of Batesville Casket
  • Advised the board of directors of Sara Lee Corporation in connection with the leveraged spin-off of Hanesbrand Apparel
  • Advised the board of directors of Fortune Brands in connection with its spin-offs and divestitures of its golf and building products units and viability of the spirits remainco business
  • Sell-side M&A advisor to Peer Bearing Company, a family-owned business and its China and Thailand operations in connection with its sale to Sweden's SKF AB
  • Sell-side M&A advisor to Clear Pack Company in connection with its sale to Sonoco Products Company
  • Sell-side M&A advisor to Marlin Firearms Company in connection with its sale to Remington Arms Company
  • Buy-side M&A advisor to a private investment company in connection with its acquisition of Continental Midland/Jacobson Fasters from Alcoa and sell-side M&A advisor to Continental Midland in connection with its sale to Monomoy Capital, a PE fund
  • Rendered a fairness opinion to KKR in connection with the related-fund financial restructurings of ATU GmbH, a German-based car parts and service station chain, and KION GmbH, a German-based material handling company
  • Rendered a going-concern BEV opinion to Terra Firma in connection with the recapitalization of Tank & Rast, a German motorway service 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
 

Ranked No. 1 for Global Fairness Opinions

Ranked no. 1 for U.S., EMEA and Global Fairness Opinions

Duff & Phelps Opinions is a global leader in Fairness Opinions and Special Committee Advisory, ranking #1 for total number of global fairness opinions for full year 2022 and the past 10 years, according to Refinitiv cumulative data from 2013-2022.

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Corporate Finance and Restructuring

M&A advisory, restructuring and insolvency, debt advisory, strategic alternatives, transaction diligence and independent financial opinions.

Financial Sponsors Group

Dedicated coverage and access to M&A deal-flow for financial sponsors.

Fairness and Solvency Opinions

Duff & Phelps Opinions is a global leader in Fairness Opinions and Special Committee Advisory, ranking #1 for total number of fairness opinions in the U.S., EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Australia and Globally in 2023 according to LSEG (FKA Refinitiv).


Commercially Reasonable Debt Opinions

Advisory on capital structure, interest rate, and the other economic terms of debt securities.

Fairness Opinions

#1 ranked provider of fairness opinions for boards of directors and special committees.

Solvency Opinions

Duff & Phelps Opinions practice is a globally recognized leader in solvency opinions. Since 2005, we have rendered more than 2,585 fairness and solvency opinions for transactions with an aggregate deal value of over $8 trillion.


ESOP and ERISA Advisory

Kroll's Corporate Finance ESOP/ERISA practice is a leading corporate finance and valuation advisor to companies and ERISA fiduciaries.

Transaction Advisory Services

Kroll’s Transaction Advisory Services platform offers corporate and financial investors with deep accounting and technical expertise, commercial knowledge, industry insight and seamless analytical services throughout the deal continuum.

Distressed M&A and Special Situations

Kroll professionals have advised hundreds of companies, investors and other stakeholders at all stages of distressed transactions and special situations.