Stephen Morrissette

Biography

Steve Morrissette's career includes large corporate experience in mergers & acquisitions, commercial banking, as well as entrepreneurial projects as an investor and founding CEO of several start-up businesses. In addition to 30 years of practitioner expertise, his academic career includes 15 years of full-time teaching and extensive scholarship on entrepreneurial finance including a comprehensive study of angel investors published in the Journal of Private Equity, many articles on the banking industry, and many presentations and journal articles.

His expertise includes: Strategic Planning, M&A, and Capital Planning. He works with publicly-held firms, privately-owned firms with a special emphasis on planning for large family-owned businesses.

Recent consulting projects include developing a strategic plan including M&A Plan ($700 mil firm in SE USA), developing ownership exit strategies/succession plans for 4 family/founder held business ranging in size from $10 to $50 million in EBITDA, strategic plan for an $75 million international internet based business, and an international strategic plan ($2 bil firm based in Saudi Arabia).

Formerly he was the founding CEO of First Community Financial Partners, a 4 bank holding company which grew to $1.2 billion in assets in 10 years which he took public and later sold. At First Community, he led 5 stock offerings raising over $100 million in equity.

He has made 11 angel investments, 10 search fund investments (traditional, self-funded and sponsored) and has advised numerous Booth students considering ETA/Search.

He serves on several corporate and non-profit boards.

His academic credentials include an MBA with honors in Finance and Strategy from the University of 黑料传送门 and a PhD in Entrepreneurial Finance from Union University. In addition to Booth, he is a Professor at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL and has guest lectured at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. His current research includes decision models for mergers and acquisitions including "A Framework for Validating and MA Deal Thesis" published in the Journal of Accountancy and Finance. He also recently published "An Investor's Guide to Search Funds" in the Journal of Private Equity; the article was co-authored with a Booth student.

Research Interests

Decision models used by firms to develop merger and acquisition strategies/processes. Data on the options considered and process used by privately held companies planning for ownership transitions.

Academic Areas

• Strategy and Leadership