About the Presenters:

Andrew Sannes is a Managing Director and Owner at Taureau Group, an investment bank providing merger and acquisition services to middle market companies leveraging our diverse backgrounds as industry operators, owners, engineers, lawyers, accountants, commercial and investment bankers for a depth of experience that provides unique operational and financial solutions leading to successful results for our clients. Andrew is the Practice Leader of the Business Services and the Technology & IT Services industry groups. With over 100 successful transactions to his credit, Andrew’s focus is on tech-enabled services, technology integrators, business process outsourcing, managed services, as well as numerous other business services. With over two decades of experience as an M&A professional, Andrew brings a broad range of experience representing companies from the Fortune 500 to the lower middle market on mergers and acquisitions, securities, leveraged buyouts and recapitalization strategies. The experience he brings to Taureau Group includes M&A, private equity, financial services, business operations, and legal.

Prior to joining Taureau Group, Andrew was a Managing Director at a Chicago based M&A investment bank following his time as a Director in the Chicago office of a national investment banking firm. Before his time as an M&A investment banker, Andrew served as Co-founder, CFO and CLO of GimmeAnother, a mobile e-commerce company. Prior to that, Andrew was a Managing Director of an independent sponsor focused on the acquisition of troubled bank assets and was previously an M&A attorney counseling on over $3B in M&A transactions.

Andrew is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School (JD) and the University of Wisconsin – Madison (BA) and holds FINRA Series 79 and Series 63 licenses. Outside of Taureau Group, Andrew volunteers his time on the Financial Committee of the Church of St. Mary Parish and as an advisor to a private charitable foundation. He also sits on the advisory boards of several early-stage high growth technology companies, is a member of the Finance Committee of a private family office, a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Chicago, a member of Vistage Worldwide (Chicago), a value-add investor and active participant in several Venture Capital groups and their respective holdings. Andrew resides in Lake Forest, IL with his wife, daughter, chocolate Labrador, and two cats.

Becky Nichols-Maystead is a business leader who has extensive experience creating value for businesses and has experienced M&A from various angles.
She started as a Valuation Consultant with Stout Risius Ross, evaluating and determining fair market values of businesses that were often for sale.
She then spent 15 years at W.W. Grainger, Inc. in various progressive leadership roles, helping businesses identify and execute on plans to improve profitability and create value.
One of her pivotal roles was the opportunity to run a $200M turnaround. Until this point, she had been in advisory roles and this was where she learned the art of execution. Ultimately the business improved drastically, and delivered sustained strong operational and financial performance.

Prior to leaving Grainger, Becky was the head of Financial Planning and Analysis, which included the M&A team that was responsible for evaluating potential acquisition targets.
She also led Grainger’s Women’s Business Resource Group, a group of over 1400 women and allies working to advance inclusivity in the workplace.

For the past 5 years, she has been President of Nichols Crane Rental, one of the premier construction companies in Chicagoland, that operates in the niche crane rental market. During her tenure, the business has achieved record growth and has tripled in size. In 2023, she was voted one of Chicago’s “Titan 100” for our performance and reputation in the industry.