Prior to founding Apogee, Andre spent 12 years at ghSMART & Co., where he was a Senior Partner and member of the firm’s management committee. He dedicated the first decade of his career solidifying his reputation — and deep relationships — as a transactional and restructuring attorney serving private equity, venture capital and corporate clients at Kirkland & Ellis, Skadden and Greenberg Traurig. He still works with many of these private equity sponsors and corporate clients today.

​

Andre holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, a JD from Northwestern University School of Law, and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Arizona.

​

Ante brings to Apogee a sharp, strategic mind and a wealth of experience with companies large and small. Prior to Apogee, Ante was a Partner in the Corporate Department of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. There, Ante specialized in mergers and acquisitions, and represented a wide variety of clients, including private equity firms (Apollo, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Merrill Lynch, BC Partners and Paine Schwartz Partners) and strategic companies (Expedia, IAC, Match Group, Publicis, AT&T, Delta, Ameren, Sears and Altria/Philip Morris). 

​

Ante received an AB degree with honors from Harvard College, and graduated with honors from Columbia Law School, where he was an Editor of the Columbia Law Review. 

Mark Agnew

Senior Advisor

Mark is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, teaching a class called “Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.” After rejoining Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in 2011 (after working there in high school), he led the company through significant growth for nearly a decade. Under Mark's tenure as CEO and President, the company employed more than 4000 people and operated 58 company-owned locations throughout Chicagoland and Phoenix, along with an eCommerce company Tastes of Chicago. Lou Malnati’s was ranked as a top workplace eight years in a row by The Chicago Tribune.

​

Prior to joining Lou Malnati’s in 2011, Mark spent five years as a Vice President at Dixon Midland Company, a Chicago-based private investment firm. In his role at Dixon Midland, Mark helped source platform and add-on investments, as well as provide hands-on operational duties at portfolio companies. Before Dixon Midland, Mark was a private equity Associate at Glencoe Capital, and an investment banking Analyst at Deutsche Bank with an emphasis on leveraged finance and MA.

​

Mark has a BS from Cornell University and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago.