Auspiciously, the deal was announced on the final day of the second quarter of 1997, with M&A records once again broken for the value of transactions done over a six-month period.

"There. is a tremendous amount of deal volume. This is a record time for the business. It was an excellent time to jump out and start our own investment bank," said Darrell Butler, one of the principals of Billow Butler.

Butler and co-founder Robert Billow previously had been the mainstays in the Chicago office of The Geneva Cos., whose headquarters is in Irvine, CA. They began their own firm in January,

"The timing was right to get out in January and establish ourselves," Butler said.

Billow said he and his partner will primarily focus on representing middle market companies seeking to be sold. Their primary clients will be corporate dinestittires by middle-market and upper-middle market companies and disposition work for btivotit firms seeking to divest portfolio or add on holdings.

There's a large market of mid-cap, privately held companies whose founders or controlling families are increasingly motivated to sell their holdings during the Current hot M market.

This motivation for owners to.sell often is due to limited succession plans for the family and, often, the need to either grow or merge with other businesses in consolidating sectors.

"If you look at some broad demographics, there were many firms created after World War II. or in the early 1950s," Billow said. "They have prospered for a long time.

"Given the merger-and-acquisition climate right now and the willingness of Corporate America to pay top dollar, it’s a good time for them to sell," Billow noted. mid-cap plastics companies which abound in the Midwest, for example, are increasingly involved in M&A, he said.

"And," Butler observed, "some owners may have missed the opportunities in the late 1980s to sell their businesses. Right now, this is a window of opportunity to get the multiples and the pricing."

"Bob and I were both born and grew, up and live in the Midwest, and the Midwest will be the core of our business practice. But we will take the opportunities as they arise," Butler said. "We're looking to grow and build a substantial investment bank in Chicago."

He said the "next logical step" is for Billow Butler Co. to establish a growth financing unit that will offer traditional mezzanine and senior level financing.