About the practice

Built in Chicago,
for the owners who built Chicago.

The region's largest-ever generation of owners is approaching retirement, and most of their businesses aren't ready to be sold well. Somebody local should be on the owner's side of that. That's the whole firm.

Why we exist

The gap nobody's minding.

When an owner decides to sell, an entire industry appears: bankers, lawyers, buyers. Almost nobody works the years before that moment, when most of the value is actually won or lost. We work both sides of that line: the preparation years and the sale itself — one firm from first cleanup to listing to closing day, in person, at your place of business.

How we operate

Principles we don't bend.

Every path on the table

List with us, take a buyer we bring, or sell to Lakeshore directly. If we want to be your buyer, we say so in writing up front — and you stay free to take the market instead.

Fees stated up front

Preparation is flat-fee, in writing, before work starts.

Truth over comfort

If your price expectation isn't real, you'll hear it in the first month.

Confidential by default

An exit explored is not an exit announced. We work quietly.

Who you'll work with

A senior team. The same people, all the way through.

The advisor in your first consult is the advisor on your engagement, with specialist depth in the disciplines buyers scrutinize most. No hand-offs to juniors, no account managers.

Marc E. Marcus — Managing Advisor, Lakeshore Exit Partners

Marc E. Marcus

Managing Advisor
Former IRS Auditor · 15 years of audit experience

Years as an IRS auditor examining businesses the way only the government can, followed by years working directly with owners on the other side of the table. That combination is the firm's method: we prepare your company for the most skeptical reader it will ever face, because we've been that reader.

Jim Calloway, JD — Deal Team Coordination

Jim Calloway, JD

Deal Team Coordination
60+ closed deals · counsel

Coordinates with the CPA, attorney, banker, and every other advisor in the deal so everyone works from one roadmap — no duplicated fees, no handoff stalls, and a cleaner path to market.

Genevieve Andres — Creative Director, Lakeshore Exit Partners

Genevieve Andres

Creative Director
Former COO · documentation lead

Turns the operating system into SOPs, manuals, and workflow improvements — delegated authority and practical proof that the company can run without every decision living in the owner’s head.

Alex Nejad, CPA — Tax, Reporting and Working Capital

Alex Nejad, CPA

Tax, Reporting & Working Capital
Tax planning · deal structuring

Owns the tax seat at the table: every decision in the preparation and in the deal itself is checked for the most beneficial reasonable tax position — from entity structure to allocation at close — so more of the price you get is the price you keep.

Lakeshore Exit Partners works from 10 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 875, Chicago, IL 60606 — steps from Union Station in the West Loop. Engagements run at your place of business, anywhere in Chicagoland.