Houlihan Lokey
Encyclopedia
Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is the largest private investment bank in the world. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California
, the firm advises middle-market and large public and private companies. Its main service lines include mergers and acquisitions
, capital markets, restructuring
, fairness opinions
, and valuations
. As of 2011, Houlihan Lokey employed over 800 employees worldwide.
Houlihan Lokey was named the No.1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion, the No. 1 Global M&A Fairness Opinion Advisor Over the Past 10 Years, and the No. 1 Global Investment Banking Restructuring Advisor by Thomson Reuters
. The firm was also named the Best Bank to work for the last four years by Vault.com, obtaining first place in over half of the categories including Employee Satisfaction, Compensation and Selectivity.
launched the firm’s valuation
business by creating demand for independent valuations of private businesses, particularly those that had formed employee stock ownership programs.
With the surge of mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, Wall Street’s largest investment banking firms began calling on Houlihan Lokey for independent valuation expertise in fairness, solvency and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) opinions. The firm advised on transactions valued at more than $100 billion during this period. The firm also began to market estate planning valuation services and quickly became one of the country’s leading “estate freeze” valuation experts. In addition, the firm opened several offices in the ’80s in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.
. The firm opened a Paris
office in 2005 and a Frankfurt
office in 2006. It also expanded its industry group platform and private equity
coverage program in keeping with investment banking trends.
In 2002, Houlihan Lokey advised the official creditors committees in the three largest bankruptcies of all time: WorldCom, Enron and Conseco, making the firm one of the highly regarded banks in the world.
In 2006, Houlihan Lokey agreed to merge with ORIX
USA, the U.S. corporate lending operations of ORIX Corp. of Japan, to address the growing international demand for middle-market investment banking services. Houlihan Lokey opened offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo in 2007. The firm opened an office in Beijing, Mumbai and Singapore the next three years.
ranked the firm the No.1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion.
, N M Rothschild and Jefferies & Co.
. The firm has led Mergers & Acquisitions Journal’s annual M&A fairness opinion advisory rankings for the past seven years. It was named International Financing Review's Europe
an Restructuring
House and has advised the creditors’ committees in four of the largest U.S. bankruptcies: Lehman Brothers
, Enron
, WorldCom and Conseco
Inc.
Here is a brief list of the 2010 awards won by Houlihan Lokey:
• No. 1 M&A Advisor for U.S. Transactions Under $2 Billion, Thomson Reuters
• No. 1 Global M&A Fairness Opinion Advisor Over the Past 10 Years, Thomson Reuters
• No. 1 Global Investment Banking Restructuring Advisor, Thomson Reuters
• Investment Banking Firm of the Year, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Valuation Firm of the Year, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Debt Financing Deal-Maker of the Year, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Middle-Market M&A Financing Deal of the Year for a Healthcare industry deal, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Best Middle-Market Investment Bank, Buyouts Magazine
In 2011, Vault.com named Houlihan Lokey the Best Bank to work for in 2011, being ranked first in Compensation, Selectivity, Diversity, Hours, Training, Employee Satisfaction, Business Outlook and Culture.
Aerospace,
Building Products,
Business Services,
Chemicals,
Consumer Products,
Defense and Government Services,
Energy,
Financial Institutions,
Healthcare,
Industrial & Environmental Technologies,
Industrials Automotive,
Infrastructure Services & Construction,
Lodging & Leisure,
Materials Engineering,
Media,
Metals,
Plastics & Packaging,
Real Estate,
Retail & Food,
Sports & Entertainment,
Technology,
Telecommunications
and Transportation & Logistics
Atlanta
Beijing
Chicago
Dallas
Frankfurt
Hong Kong
London
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
Mumbai
New York
Paris
San Francisco
Singapore
Tokyo
Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the firm advises middle-market and large public and private companies. Its main service lines include mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
, capital markets, restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
, fairness opinions
Fairness opinion
A fairness opinion is a professional evaluation by an investment bank or other third party as to whether the terms of a merger, acquisition, buyback, spin-off, or going private are fair...
, and valuations
Valuation (finance)
In finance, valuation is the process of estimating what something is worth. Items that are usually valued are a financial asset or liability. Valuations can be done on assets or on liabilities...
. As of 2011, Houlihan Lokey employed over 800 employees worldwide.
Houlihan Lokey was named the No.1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion, the No. 1 Global M&A Fairness Opinion Advisor Over the Past 10 Years, and the No. 1 Global Investment Banking Restructuring Advisor by Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
. The firm was also named the Best Bank to work for the last four years by Vault.com, obtaining first place in over half of the categories including Employee Satisfaction, Compensation and Selectivity.
1970s
Founded in Los Angeles in 1972, Houlihan Lokey offered general business advisory services to privately held companies. The 1974 passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security ActEmployee Retirement Income Security Act
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is an American federal statute that establishes minimum standards for pension plans in private industry and provides for extensive rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans...
launched the firm’s valuation
Valuation (finance)
In finance, valuation is the process of estimating what something is worth. Items that are usually valued are a financial asset or liability. Valuations can be done on assets or on liabilities...
business by creating demand for independent valuations of private businesses, particularly those that had formed employee stock ownership programs.
1980s
In 1986, Kenneth Friedman founded and became President of Houlihan Lokey's investment banking broker-dealer to provide corporate finance services including M&A advisory services and procuring debt and equity financing. Friedman formed the investment bank to provide Wall Street level expertise to the expanding investment banking demands of the middle-market. By 1987, many of the highly leveraged transactions completed earlier in the decade, were starting to exhibit signs of financial distress. Accordingly, a market was developing for financial restructuring advisory services. To position itself to serve this burgeoning market, the investment banking broker- dealer purchased Cheviot Capital Corporation, in 1987, and began assembling, led by Jeff Werbalowsky and Irwin Gold, what would become one of the most active, dominant worldwide financial restructuring groups.With the surge of mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts, Wall Street’s largest investment banking firms began calling on Houlihan Lokey for independent valuation expertise in fairness, solvency and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) opinions. The firm advised on transactions valued at more than $100 billion during this period. The firm also began to market estate planning valuation services and quickly became one of the country’s leading “estate freeze” valuation experts. In addition, the firm opened several offices in the ’80s in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.
1990s
Houlihan Lokey opened eight offices across the U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s as it expanded. In 1995, to grow its information services division, Houlihan Lokey acquired Mergerstat, a publishing company with a 30-year history as the leader in analytical M&A research, from Merrill Lynch.2000s
In 2001, Houlihan Lokey launched its first non-U.S. office by expanding into LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The firm opened a Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
office in 2005 and a Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
office in 2006. It also expanded its industry group platform and private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
coverage program in keeping with investment banking trends.
In 2002, Houlihan Lokey advised the official creditors committees in the three largest bankruptcies of all time: WorldCom, Enron and Conseco, making the firm one of the highly regarded banks in the world.
In 2006, Houlihan Lokey agreed to merge with ORIX
ORIX
is a financial services group established 17 April 1964 as Orient Leasing Co., Ltd.. The company's name was changed to ORIX Corporation in 1989...
USA, the U.S. corporate lending operations of ORIX Corp. of Japan, to address the growing international demand for middle-market investment banking services. Houlihan Lokey opened offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo in 2007. The firm opened an office in Beijing, Mumbai and Singapore the next three years.
Financial Restructuring
With nearly 175 professionals worldwide, this team responds quickly in complicated situations. Every assignment is staffed with professionals who facilitate prompt completion of due diligence and analysis. Houlihan Lokey advises in many of the largest, most complex distressed deals over the past decade. During this period the firm advised on almost 1000 restructuring transactions, special situations or Distressed M&A, with aggregate debt claims in excess of $1.5 trillion, including four of the five largest of all time: Lehman Brothers, WorldCom, General Motors and CIT Group. In 2010, Houlihan Lokey received the Restructuring of the Year Award by the International Financing Review.Corporate Finance (M&A)
Widely recognized as a leading M&A advisor, Houlihan Lokey has longstanding relationships with capital providers, including commercial banks and other senior credit providers, insurance funds, asset managers and mezzanine fund investors. In addition, through the comprehensive financial sponsors’ coverage, the firm provides ready access to equity investors. Few investment banks maintain the breadth of relationships and capital markets intelligence that Houlihan Lokey does. In 2010, Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
ranked the firm the No.1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion.
Financial Advisory Services
Over the past 40 years, Houlihan Lokey has established one of the largest worldwide financial advisory practices. The transaction expertise and leadership in the field of valuation inspire confidence in the financial executives, boards of directors, special committees, investors and business owners we serve. This group operates in Opinion Services, Transaction & Valuation Reporting Services, Portfolio Valuation & Advisory Services and Financial Consulting. In 2010, Thomson Reuters ranked Houlihan Lokey the No. 1 Global M&A Fairness Opinion Advisor over the past 10 years. In addition, the firm was named Valuation Firm of the Year at the 2010 M&A Advisor International Awards.Rankings
Houlihan Lokey has won the Best Investment Banking Firm Award several times over the last few years, more so than competitors LazardLazard
Lazard Ltd is the parent company of Lazard Group LLC, a global, independent investment bank with approximately 2,300 employees in 42 cities across 27 countries throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, Central and South America...
, N M Rothschild and Jefferies & Co.
Jefferies & Co.
Jefferies & Company, Inc., the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. is a global investment bank and institutional securities firm...
. The firm has led Mergers & Acquisitions Journal’s annual M&A fairness opinion advisory rankings for the past seven years. It was named International Financing Review's Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an Restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
House and has advised the creditors’ committees in four of the largest U.S. bankruptcies: Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
, Enron
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
, WorldCom and Conseco
Conseco
Conseco , originally Security Life of Indiana, is a financial services organization based in Carmel, Indiana. Conseco's insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supplemental health insurance products to more than 4 million customers in the United States...
Inc.
Here is a brief list of the 2010 awards won by Houlihan Lokey:
• No. 1 M&A Advisor for U.S. Transactions Under $2 Billion, Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
• No. 1 Global M&A Fairness Opinion Advisor Over the Past 10 Years, Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
• No. 1 Global Investment Banking Restructuring Advisor, Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
• Investment Banking Firm of the Year, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Valuation Firm of the Year, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Debt Financing Deal-Maker of the Year, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Middle-Market M&A Financing Deal of the Year for a Healthcare industry deal, M&A Advisor International Awards
• Best Middle-Market Investment Bank, Buyouts Magazine
In 2011, Vault.com named Houlihan Lokey the Best Bank to work for in 2011, being ranked first in Compensation, Selectivity, Diversity, Hours, Training, Employee Satisfaction, Business Outlook and Culture.
Industries
Houlihan Lokey bankers focus on industries that include:Aerospace,
Building Products,
Business Services,
Chemicals,
Consumer Products,
Defense and Government Services,
Energy,
Financial Institutions,
Healthcare,
Industrial & Environmental Technologies,
Industrials Automotive,
Infrastructure Services & Construction,
Lodging & Leisure,
Materials Engineering,
Media,
Metals,
Plastics & Packaging,
Real Estate,
Retail & Food,
Sports & Entertainment,
Technology,
Telecommunications
and Transportation & Logistics
Office locations
Atlanta BeijingBeijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Dallas FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Minneapolis MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
San Francisco SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....