Mr. Merkel is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Industrials, Europe within Houlihan Lokey’s Industrials Group. He is based in the firm’s Frankfurt office.
Previously, Mr. Merkel was a Managing Director at GCA Altium, which was acquired by Houlihan Lokey in 2021. Before joining GCA, he co-led the German office at Alantra and was a member of its Global Executive Management Committee, chairman of its Nordic operations, and the global sector head of Industrial Automation.
Prior to Alantra, Mr. Merkel was a founding partner of C.W. Downer & Co.’s platform in Europe, a global M&A boutique focused on cross-border M&A transactions, which merged with N+1 to become Alantra in 2016.
Mr. Merkel holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Lincoln (UK). He also studied at the International Business School in Bad Nauheim (Germany), where he received his Diploma in International Management.