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Houlihan Lokey is a leading global independent investment bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, capital solutions, financial restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services. The firm advises corporations, financial sponsors, and governments worldwide, leveraging deep industry expertise and data-driven insights from high transaction volumes. Under CEO Scott Adelson, and with past leadership from Irwin Gold, the publicly traded firm (NYSE: HLI) earns fees from its comprehensive advisory services. It employs over 2,700 professionals across 11 U.S. offices and 25 international locations, demonstrating significant global reach. Founded in 1972, Houlihan Lokey expanded its global footprint by acquiring GCA Corporation in 2021 and was recognized as Investment Bank of the Year by Middle Market Growth in 2023.
Key people at Houlihan Lokey.
Key people at Houlihan Lokey.
Houlihan Lokey is a leading independent global investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital solutions, financial restructuring, distressed M&A, fairness opinions, and financial and valuation advisory services.[1][2] Headquartered in Los Angeles with over 2,600 employees worldwide as of July 2025, the firm advises large public companies, closely held businesses, institutions, and governments across key sectors including business services, consumer, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials, real estate/lodging/leisure, and technology.[1][2] It holds top rankings such as No. 1 for global M&A transactions in 2024 (415 deals), top U.S. M&A advisor for the past decade, and leading global restructuring advisor for 11 years.[1][2]
The firm's mission centers on providing sector-specific expertise and trusted advocacy through all business life cycle stages, with a philosophy rooted in independence that prioritizes client interests over proprietary trading or lending conflicts.[2] Its impact on the startup and broader ecosystem is significant via middle-market M&A leadership—often the top global advisor by deal volume—facilitating growth, exits, and recapitalizations for emerging companies, private equity portfolio firms, and tech innovators.[1][3]
Founded in 1972 in Los Angeles, Houlihan Lokey began as a valuation firm amid the leveraged buyout boom, quickly gaining traction for independent fairness, solvency, and ESOP opinions on deals exceeding $100 billion.[1] Key early figures included founders who capitalized on Wall Street's need for unbiased valuation expertise, expanding into estate planning and opening offices in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago during the 1980s.[1]
The firm evolved from pure valuations to a full-service investment bank, with pivotal growth through international expansion and acquisitions like Fidentiis Capital (Europe, 2019) for corporate finance and Freeman & Co. (2019) for financial institution advisory.[1] This trajectory solidified its middle-market dominance, transitioning from niche advisor to global M&A powerhouse.[1][3]
Houlihan Lokey rides the wave of consolidation in tech and adjacent sectors, where middle-market M&A surges amid private equity dry powder, AI-driven disruptions, and maturing startups seeking exits or scale.[1][2][3] Its timing aligns with post-pandemic deal recovery and rising restructuring needs from high-interest environments, positioning it to influence tech ecosystem liquidity—advising on portfolio sales (e.g., oneZero to Golden Gate) and financings that fuel innovation cycles.[2]
Market forces like LSEG/PitchBook metrics favor its volume leadership, amplifying its role in democratizing access to top-tier advisory for non-mega-cap tech firms, while its technology group shapes trends in software, fintech, and energy tech transitions.[1][2]
Houlihan Lokey is primed for continued dominance as M&A volumes rebound in 2026+, driven by lower rates, PE realizations, and tech sector IPO windows.[1][2] Trends like AI infrastructure deals, healthcare digitization, and energy transitions will shape its pipeline, with potential for more European/Asian expansion via tuck-in acquisitions.[1]
Its influence may evolve toward deeper capital markets integration and AI-enhanced advisory, solidifying middle-market leadership while challenging bulge-bracket firms on volume—reinforcing its status as the go-to for transformative transactions that power the next startup wave.[2][3]
