Robert Barr

Robert "Rob" Barr is a co-founder of Lincoln International, the global mid-market investment bank he launched in 1996 alongside Jim Lawson (originally as Lincoln Partners). Together the two founders served as Global Co-CEOs for roughly 25 years, guiding the firm's growth from a single Chicago office with four employees to a global platform of more than 700 professionals across 22 offices in 16 countries. Rob is credited with a pivotal role in that global expansion and in building the firm's entrepreneurial, partnership-oriented culture.

Rob has more than 30 years of investment banking experience, advising public and private companies, large corporates, and private equity firms on mergers and acquisitions and restructurings, and providing fairness opinions and valuations (including for shareholders' rights plans). Over his career he has completed more than 100 M&A transactions across a variety of industries, with particular depth in cross-border deals.

Before co-founding Lincoln, Rob advised on cross-border M&A as a Managing Director at Peers & Co. and as a Senior Vice President at PaineWebber. He began his career as a consultant at Data Resources, Inc. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. (with honors) from Case Western Reserve University.

In 2021 — Lincoln's 25th anniversary year — Rob stepped back from the Global Co-CEO role as part of a planned leadership transition, with Rob Brown taking over as Global CEO. Barr has continued at the firm as Managing Director and Board Director (also described as GP-Director), providing strategic oversight and leadership of various global growth and internal initiatives.

• Lincoln International is a sell-side/buy-side M&A and financial advisory firm, not a check-writing angel or venture investor — so "thesis," "check size," and "stage" in the VC sense do not apply to Rob Barr's role.
• The firm's core work is mid-market M&A advisory, debt advisory/capital raising, valuations & opinions, and restructuring for corporates and financial sponsors.
• Rob's personal focus over his career: advising business and industry leaders on complex, often cross-border M&A and restructuring transactions, and delivering independent fairness opinions and valuations.
• On leadership transition, in his own words: *"Lincoln's great momentum in recent years and very promising future makes now the appropriate time for the transition to new leadership to occur."*