Mary Merrill has over twenty-five years’ experience in mergers and acquisitions, private placements of debt and equity, strategic advisory services and valuations for middle-market companies. She has worked for several investment banking firms, including a boutique investment bank she founded and subsequently sold.
Prior to investment banking, Mary was a partner at Churchill Capital, a family of private equity and subordinated debt funds which exceeds $1 billion under management. She served as Chief Financial Officer and Director of a West Coast communication services and retail company, and she was a commercial banker with US Bank.
In her roles as investment banker and private equity investor, Mary has worked with family-owned businesses, private and public companies to achieve growth, liquidity, access to capital and exit strategies. Mary’s background enables her to guide clients through growth, acquisitions, capital structure optimization, and business sales.
Mary serves on several private company, non-profit, and civic boards in Jacksonville, FL and Minneapolis, MN. She chairs the Jacksonville City Council’s Health Facilities Finance Authority and the Membership Committee of the Ponte Vedra Beach Rotary Club. She was a founding member of the Twin Cities United Way Women’s Leadership Council dedicated to early childhood education where she served as President and was instrumental in securing over $3M in funding for many early education programs in her community. Mary has served on the University of Minnesota Carlson School Advisory Board where she continues to be involved in women’s leadership initiatives. Mary also volunteers and has served on the board of Florida Urgent Rescue, whose mission is to rescue animals from kill shelters and other urgent situations, including hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Mary earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business and an MBA in Finance and International Business from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota where she achieved membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma Honors Society. She holds FINRA series 7, 24, 66 and 79 licenses.
