Deal Hunters (Young Professionals) Networking & Deal Panel

Sullivan & Worcester Partner Ben Armour’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate finance, and the financing, development and acquisition of energy and infrastructure projects. He advises on M&A and financing transactions for public and private companies. In addition, he regularly represents public and private companies, including real estate investment trusts (REITs), involved in equity and debt financings, and he has advised multiple companies in connection with their REIT conversions. Ben received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law and his B.A. from Amherst College.

Leann is a Senior Manager in the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Tax Services practice, and focuses on advising corporate and private equity investors with respect to tax implications of mergers, acquisitions and restructurings. Leann’s transaction tax experience includes:

• Buy- and sell-side tax due diligence
• Tax structuring
• Complex technical research and related opinion and memoranda on a wide range of transactional matters.

Prior to joining RSM, Leann was a tax manager at PwC.

Professional Affiliations

• Certified Public Accountant, Massachusetts
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants
• American Bar Association
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• Rhode Island Bar Association
• Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Boston Chapter

Education

• Bachelor of Science, accounting, Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University
• Master of Business Administration, Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University
• Juris Doctor, Northeastern University School of Law

Chris Nicholas is a Director of Shields & Company.  Mr. Nicholas has over 10 years of experience advising middle market companies on merger and acquisition, capital raising, and valuation assignments.  Mr. Nicholas has completed transactions across a variety of industries including business services, consumer products, industrial products & services, niche manufacturing, specialty chemicals, specialty distribution, and transportation & logistics.

Prior to returning to Shields & Company in 2012, Mr. Nicholas was an associate with Harris Williams & Co., a Richmond-based investment bank focused on middle-market mergers and acquisitions.  Mr. Nicholas has held prior positions at BirdDog Solutions, Morgan Stanley, and began his career at Shields & Company as an analyst working on a variety of acquisition, advisory, and valuation assignments.

Mr. Nicholas serves on the board of the Boston chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and is a former board member of the Bucknell Club of Boston.  Mr. Nicholas earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA in Economics from Bucknell University. Mr. Nicholas holds Series 7, 63, and 79 FINRA registrations.

Mike joined New Heritage Capital in 2014 and is responsible for generating new investment opportunities, initial new investment evaluation, and developing and maintaining intermediary relationships. Mike was previously a Vice President in the Healthcare Leveraged Finance group at Silicon Valley Bank in Boston. In his role at SVB, he worked directly with private equity sponsors to structure, underwrite, and execute leveraged loans in the Healthcare sector for the purpose of leveraged buyouts, add-on acquisitions, dividend recapitalizations, and refinancings. Prior to SVB, Mike worked at Stonebridge Associates, a boutique lower-middle market investment bank in Boston. Mike received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University.

Danielle is a Business Development Officer for KeyBank Business Credit, responsible for sourcing new commercial lending facilities ranging from $5MM-$40MM in commitment size. Prior to joining KeyBank, Danielle was First Vice President, Sr. Portfolio Manager at First Niagara Commercial Finance responsible for managing portfolio relationships; proactively identifying and responding to the ongoing needs of her borrowers.

Prior to joining First Niagara, Danielle was a Vice President, Portfolio Manager with Salus Capital Partners, responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of asset-based loans. Danielle also previously served as an Assistant Vice President, Senior Credit Analyst, at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, and Assistant Vice President, Senior Treasury Analyst, at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, responsible for supporting the borrowers’ cash management needs. She has also worked as a Senior Treasury Analyst and as Supervisor of Banking Relations at the Office of the Massachusetts State Treasury.

She is a board member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) of New England, the TMA's Network of Women (TMA NOW) committee co-chair, and board member and Treasurer of the International Women's Insolvency Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). She holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.B.A. both from Simmons College.

Kyle has over ten years of professional experience advising clients on accounting, finance and business processes. Since May 2014, Kyle has worked on over 50 deals providing transaction services, serving buy-side and sell-side clients with financial due diligences in various industries, including healthcare, software, manufacturing and distribution, professional services, transportation and construction. Kyle’s transaction advisory and financial due diligence experience includes identification of key deal issues, quality of earnings analysis, profitability analysis, financial projects, cash flow modeling, internal control structure evaluation, and working capital adjustments.

Prior to joining RSM’s Transaction Advisory Services practice, Kyle spent 7 years in the audit, tax and consulting practices at Reese Henry & Company in Aspen, Colorado and Feeley & Driscoll in Boston, Massachusetts. During his time as an auditor, Kyle managed financial statement audits for middle-market companies ranging from $20 million to $1 billion in annual revenues.

Professional Affiliations and Credentials

• Certified Public Accountant
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants
• Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants

Education

• Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, Master of Science in Accountancy
• Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy