John Waller
John Waller is a Principal at Eaton Square Chicago. John is part of Prairie Capital Advisors and joined in 2021. He has over 30 years of investment banking experience and 25 years advising middle-market companies on the sale and acquisition of entire businesses and business units. John leads and co-leads transaction teams and develops business for the firm. As a trusted advisor to privately-held companies and large corporations, John works to understand a client’s business, develop various transaction alternatives and present multiple options to the client. He then navigates clients through ownership transitions, corporate divestitures and special situations. John is deeply involved in all aspects of transactions including managing the preparation process, contacting and meeting with potential acquirers or targets and structuring, negotiating and completing a transaction.
Prior to joining Prairie, John founded Plaisance Advisors to provide mergers and acquisition services to world-class, industry-leading companies. For Plaisance’s clients, he managed the entire transaction process, from preparing marketing materials, to identifying and contacting potential acquirers, to hosting management meetings, overseeing due diligence and negotiating the transaction and closing. Prior to Plaisance, John was an early employee at Lincoln International, where he oversaw private company sales, corporate divestitures, special situations and acquisition advisory assignments. Earlier, John worked at the international investment bank Credit Suisse in Chicago. He also participated in a year-long U.S. State Department program as a consultant in Central Europe shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
John earned a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance and International Business from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Iowa. John currently holds FIRNA Series 63 and 79 securities licenses.
John is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Securities offered through Prairie Capital Markets, LLC, a registered broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Prairie Capital Markets, LLC and Eaton Square LLC are unaffiliated.