William Blair Vet Eyes Global M&A: Mark Brady, a 19-year firm veteran, oversees the Chicago bank's M&A global expansion efforts Brady:'It took me 17 years to do my first $20 billion of M&A deals, and a month to do my second.'

Mark Brady has shared more than one lunch with corporate executives during his 18-year career at William Blair & Co., where he serves as head of M&A in its corporate finance group. But, there hasn't been one quite as geopolitically-charged as the occasion that took place in China last year.

After making a toast to 15 Chinese and North Koreans gathered around the restaurant table and hosted by a Chinese equipment manufacturer, the Chicago investment banker would soon receive his own tribute from a North Korean man sitting to his left. "Here's to my new friend from the US. May we meet again as friends and not on the battlefield...but I predict it will be on the battlefield," Brady recalls the guest saying.

The North Korean, it turned out, reported to Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong Il.

For Brady, the occasion was one memorable moment during his four trips to China last year on visits to clients...