Houlihan Lokey Advises Cerberus Capital Management (8)

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to have advised an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, LP (Cerberus) on its strategic investment in Lighthouse Autism Center (Lighthouse). The transaction closed on July 23, 2021.

Based in New York, Cerberus is a global leader in alternative investing with more than $55 billion in assets across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate strategies. Since 1997, Cerberus’ private equity platform has invested over $15 billion of equity, acquiring controlling or substantial minority interests in more than 70 portfolio companies and completing over 60 add-on acquisitions.

Headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, Lighthouse is a leading provider of center-based autism behavioral health services for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Through its network of centers across the Midwest and using the principles of applied behavior analysis and other therapeutic methodologies, the company delivers individualized, evidence-based programs with its team of board-certified behavior analysts, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and behavior technicians.

Houlihan Lokey served as the financial advisor to Cerberus in the Lighthouse transaction. This transaction highlights Houlihan Lokey's continued leadership within the multisite and behavioral health sector, having closed 59 transactions in this space since 2016, including 23 over the past 12 months. Houlihan Lokey's Healthcare Group is among the largest dedicated healthcare investment banking groups in the country. In 2020, Houlihan Lokey was ranked the No. 1 M&A advisor for U.S. healthcare transactions under $1 billion by Refinitiv.

Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group served as the exclusive placement agent to Lighthouse, assisting in the arranging, structuring, and negotiating of the transaction’s financing. Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group is one of the largest providers of private capital solutions in the world, raising over $11 billion across more than 60 transactions during FY21 with over 30 different sponsors.