Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey
Name	Houlihan Lokey
Type	Public
Industry	Investment banking
Founded	1972
Founder	Richard Houlihan; O. Kit Lokey
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Scott Beiser; Jeffrey Solomon

Houlihan Lokey is an international investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, valuation, and financial advisory services. The firm provides advisory work across industries and jurisdictions, serving corporations, private equity firms, governments, and financial institutions. It competes and collaborates with major financial institutions and boutique advisory firms on cross-border transactions and complex restructurings.

History

Founded in 1972 by Richard Houlihan and O. Kit Lokey in Los Angeles, the firm expanded during the 1980s and 1990s amid waves of corporate mergers and leveraged buyouts involving Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, KKR, and Carlyle Group. During the early 2000s the firm advised on matters connected to Enron, WorldCom, and Lehman Brothers fallout, interacting with regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and courts including the United States Bankruptcy Court in cases similar to those involving General Motors and Chrysler. Growth through strategic hires linked the firm to leaders from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Citigroup, and geographic expansion echoed patterns set by Deutsche Bank, UBS, and Credit Suisse. The 2010s saw the firm participate in transactions alongside BlackRock, TPG Capital, Apollo Global Management, and Warburg Pincus, while public listing trends mirrored those of firms like Lazard and Evercore. The firm navigated regulatory environments in regions overseen by entities such as the European Commission, Financial Conduct Authority, and Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Services and Business Units

The firm's services include restructuring advisory, mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital markets advisory, valuation and financial opinions, and private funds advisory. Its restructuring practice operates in contexts similar to engagements involving PG&E Corporation, Kodak, Toys "R" Us', and Hertz, coordinating with stakeholders including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank AG, and Barclays. M&A assignments place the firm alongside sellers and buyers such as Microsoft, Amazon (company), Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., and Meta Platforms in cross-sector mandates. Valuation and fairness opinions are provided for transactions touching institutions like Blackstone, KKR, TPG, Silver Lake Partners, and CVC Capital Partners, while capital markets work intersects with issuers and underwriters like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase, and Credit Suisse Group AG. The private funds advisory team services managers comparable to Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Accel Partners. The firm's practices advise across industries including energy, healthcare, technology, industrials, consumer, and financial institutions, engaging with counterparties such as ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, General Electric, Siemens, Procter & Gamble, and Visa Inc..

Key Transactions and Deals

The firm has advised on high-profile restructurings, mergers, and sales, often in matters reminiscent of transactions involving Lehman Brothers', Bear Stearns', AIG, and Washington Mutual. Deals have included cross-border sales and carve-outs similar to transactions with Roche, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi. Advisory assignments have intersected with private equity exits and take-privates analogous to those involving KKR's acquisition of RJR Nabisco-style deals, Bain Capital's leveraged transactions, and Apollo-led buyouts. The firm has provided fairness opinions and advised on financings like those seen in offerings by Alphabet, secondary sales involving SoftBank, and recapitalizations akin to Tesla, Inc. and Ford Motor Company. Cross-border M&A work connects to deal parties similar to Alibaba Group, Tencent, SoftBank Group Corp., Samsung Electronics, and Sony Corporation, and the firm has been engaged in distressed sales and workouts comparable to matters for Chesapeake Energy and Frontier Communications.

Financial Performance and Corporate Structure

As a publicly listed company, the firm reports revenue, net income, and segment results consistent with disclosure regimes overseen by regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and stock exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Its capital structure, equity awards, and debt facilities are comparable to peer firms such as Lazard, Evercore Partners, PJT Partners, and Moelis & Company. Institutional investors in the firm mirror those that hold shares in similar advisors, including Vanguard Group, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, State Street Corporation, T. Rowe Price, and Fidelity Investments. The company’s financial reporting addresses revenue by advisory verticals and geographic segments, with performance metrics watched by analysts at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Management and Governance

Senior management and the board include executives and directors with backgrounds at firms like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank, and governance practices align with expectations from institutional investors such as CalPERS, Norfolk County Council Pension Fund, and BlackRock. Compensation committees reference frameworks utilized by corporations including Apple Inc., Microsoft, and Amazon (company), while audit committees interact with auditors from firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. The board has overseen strategic initiatives similar to spin-offs, roll-ups, and partnerships seen with McKinsey & Company-advised restructurings and Boston Consulting Group strategic reviews.

Global Presence and Offices

The firm maintains offices and personnel across major financial centers including Los Angeles, New York City, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, and Dubai, mirroring networks of firms like J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Deutsche Bank. Its regional teams liaise with central banks and regulators such as the Federal Reserve System, Bank of England, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, and Monetary Authority of Singapore, and coordinate cross-border mandates involving counterparties in markets including Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and Mexico. The office footprint supports engagements across industries tied to multinational corporations including BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, BASF, Toyota Motor Corporation, and Hyundai Motor Company.

Category:Investment banks Category:Financial services companies of the United States