Houlihan Lokey Advises MKM Partners

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Roth Capital Partners, LLC (ROTH) has acquired MKM Partners, LLC (MKM Partners). Under the terms of the agreement, ROTH will acquire all the member interest of MKM Partners for cash and combined entity common stock. The transaction closed on January 31, 2023.

ROTH is a relationship-driven investment bank focused on serving growth companies and their investors. As a full-service investment bank, ROTH provides capital raising, M&A advisory, research, trading, market-making services, and corporate access, raising $100 billion for small and mid-cap public companies over the past 30 years. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, ROTH is privately held and employee owned and maintains offices throughout the U.S.

“We are excited to welcome MKM’s employees, platform, and culture into the ROTH family,” said Byron Roth. “This transaction marks an important milestone for ROTH as we add MKM’s expertise in market research and trading services to our investment banking platform. MKM shares our commitment to establishing long-term relationships with issuers and institutional investors by providing value-added services to our clients. We are truly looking forward to working with Sagar Sheth, Michael Darda, and the entire MKM team as we advance the resources of our firm."

MKM Partners is an institutional equity research, sales, and trading firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with additional offices in Boston, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Austin. MKM combines high-impact fundamental analysis with macroeconomics, technical insights, derivatives strategies, event-driven commentary, alternative research, and execution. With over 1,000 institutional clients, the firm has trade execution abilities in both global equity markets and in U.S. options markets.

“The transaction with ROTH will provide catalysts and resources that will deepen our ability to provide market intelligence and strategies to our clients. The foundation of the transaction represents our focus of unlocking a number of revenue opportunities while benefiting from the complementary workforces of both firms. We look forward to growing our business in both the U.S. and globally as well as creating a number of opportunities for our professionals, our partners, and our clients,” said Sagar Sheth, CEO of MKM Partners.

Once the transaction is completed, Byron Roth will become Executive Chairman, and Sagar Sheth, MKM’s current Chief Executive Officer, will be named CEO. In addition, Aaron Gurewitz will be President of the combined entity.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to MKM Partners.