Specialty Finance and Challenger Banks
The specialty finance and challenger banks 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 Navient Corp. (NASDAQ:NAVI) has transferred its student loan servicing contract with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and associated operations to Maximus Inc. (NYSE:MMS). The transaction closed in October 2021.
Navient is a leading provider of education loan management and processing solutions for education, healthcare, and government clients. Until its exit, Navient had been one of the larger servicers of ED’s federal student loan portfolio since it was awarded the ED contract in 2009.
Maximus provides business process management expertise, innovation, and technology solutions to help government agencies run effective, efficient, and accountable programs. The company is a responsible and reliable contracting partner to governments with the mission of "helping government serve the people." In addition, Maximus has operated ED’s default collections platform since 2014 and was also selected for ED’s Next Generation Business Process Operations (BPO) contract.
The transaction transferred Navient’s servicing contract via a novation and was designed to ensure a smooth transition for the approximately 5.6 million impacted ED loan borrowers ($221 billion of loans) and 700 transferring employees. Going forward, Navient will focus on its growth businesses in consumer lending and business processing solutions. Meanwhile, Maximus looks forward to furthering its strong track record of supporting ED through its expansion into federally owned student loan servicing.
Houlihan Lokey served as exclusive financial advisor to Navient.
