Broker-Dealers and Capital Markets
The broker-dealers and capital markets sector, which operates within Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Services Group, has earned a reputation for providing superior service and achieving outstanding results in M&A advisory, capital-raising, restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services.
The global Houlihan Lokey Financial Services team has more than 90 dedicated financial services professionals with senior officers located in eight offices around the world, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Tokyo. We are deeply experienced in advising clients across business models of all types, including advisory, distribution, services, technology, and balance-sheet-driven companies. When our experience is combined with our comprehensive understanding of the industry’s financial, regulatory, and competitive dynamics, we are able to more effectively analyze a full range of strategic options, such as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, capital raising, and asset sale transactions.
| Advisor | Deals |
|---|---|
| Houlihan Lokey | 41 |
| Rothschild | 32 |
| Goldman Sachs | 29 |
| UBS | 27 |
| Morgan Stanley | 26 |
Subsectors
How We Can Help
Our firm is extremely well equipped to help our clients navigate uncertainty and capitalize on opportunity. We respond quickly to challenging situations and are constantly helping clients analyze, structure, negotiate, and execute the best possible solutions from both strategic and financial perspectives.
Corporate Finance
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Capital Markets
- Private Funds Advisory
- Board Advisory Services
Financial Restructuring
- Company Advisory
- Creditor Advisory
Financial and Valuation Advisory
- Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory
- Transaction Opinions
- Corporate Valuation Advisory Services
- Transaction Advisory Services
- Real Estate Valuation and Advisory
- Dispute Resolution Consulting
Contact Us
Selected Transactions
Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that FocalPoint Securities, a leading independent investment bank based in Los Angeles, has been acquired by B. Riley Financial for total consideration of up to $175 million. The transaction, which will create revenue synergies for both companies, comes as FocalPoint is experiencing significant momentum, with $17 billion in closed transactions spanning a successful 20-year history. The combination is expected to more than quadruple B. Riley's pro forma M&A advisory business while significantly enhancing its debt capital markets and financial restructuring capabilities. The transaction closed in January 2022.
Founded in 2002, FocalPoint specializes in mergers and acquisitions, private capital advisory, financial restructuring, and special situation transactions. The firm includes approximately 50 investment banking professionals with deep industry specialization in high-growth sectors such as aerospace and defense (A&D), industrials, business services, consumer, healthcare, and technology/media/telecom (TMT).
B. Riley Financial (NASDAQ:RILY) provides collaborative solutions tailored to fit the capital raising and business advisory needs of its clients and partners. The company offers a diverse range of capabilities spanning investment banking and institutional brokerage, private wealth and investment management, financial consulting, corporate restructuring, and more.
The combination of FocalPoint and B. Riley builds upon the momentum and proven execution capabilities of both firms and is in line with B. Riley's stated intent to expand capabilities in M&A advisory and fixed income. This combination provides strategic and financial sponsor clients with access to both firms' proven execution capabilities and a full suite of end-to-end services from a single platform.
Houlihan Lokey acted as sellside advisor to FocalPoint, representing the firm's fifth deal announced in the space since November 2021.
