Houlihan Lokey
Independent investment bank for M&A, restructuring and valuation advisory.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- Houlihan Lokey, Inc.
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Headquarters
- Constellation Place, 10250 Constellation Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90067
- Company size
- 1,001–5,000
- Market role
- Other / Non-Digital Advertising Relevant
- Ticker
- HLI
- Official website
- hl.com
What Houlihan Lokey does
Houlihan Lokey operates a fee-based investment banking and financial advisory model. It creates value by advising clients on strategic transactions, capital raising, restructuring situations, valuations and due diligence, using specialised industry expertise, senior banker relationships and global execution capabilities. Unlike universal banks, it monetises advice and transaction support rather than lending spreads, deposit gathering or consumer financial services.
Category differentiation
Houlihan Lokey is an investment banking and financial advisory firm, not an adtech, martech or enterprise software vendor. It sells professional advisory services to business and institutional clients rather than consumer banking products.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is a publicly listed independent investment bank headquartered in the United States. The firm provides advisory services across mergers and acquisitions, capital solutions, financial restructuring, valuation, fairness opinions and transaction advisory. Its client base consists of corporations, private equity firms, financial sponsors, creditors, lenders, funds and other institutional investors, with a strong emphasis on mid-cap transactions and cross-border advisory mandates. The company generates revenue from advisory fees rather than balance-sheet lending or consumer financial products. Its business model is built around relationship-led, high-value professional services delivered by sector-specialised managing directors and advisory teams. Revenue is diversified across corporate finance, restructuring and valuation-related work, giving the firm a mix of cyclical and countercyclical earnings streams.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
Houlihan Lokey announced its first-quarter fiscal 2027 financial results and strengthened its leadership with the appointment of Prabha Sipi Bhandari as Chief Legal Officer, the election of Thomas Reichert to the Board, and the addition of Jacques Bitton as a Senior Advisor in France. Concurrently, the firm provided prominent sector insights at ATS London, noting that the valuation struggles of publicly-traded ad tech companies stem primarily from small market capitalisations rather than operational underperformance amid an evolving M&A landscape.
Business model & monetisation
Houlihan Lokey monetises through advisory fees tied to transaction value, complexity and mandate scope. Revenue is primarily generated via success fees on completed M&A deals, restructuring mandates and capital raises, supplemented by retainers for ongoing advisory engagements. Valuation and transaction advisory work is sold on project-based, milestone, fixed-fee and time-based billing structures.
- Corporate finance advisory
- Service Fee
- Financial restructuring advisory
- Service Fee
- Financial and valuation advisory
- Service Fee
- Transaction advisory services
- Service Fee
Products & capabilities
No products with linked sources are available in this view.
Products & market categories
Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
8-K Financial Filing Analysis for Houlihan Lokey (2026-09-22)
financials · Recorded impact score: 3/5
Houlihan Lokey reported several key governance and leadership actions following its annual stockholder meeting on September 16, 2026. Stockholders approved the Second Amended and Restated 2016 Incentive Award Plan, which sets the reserved share pool at 12 million shares, reinstates an annual evergreen replenishment at a reduced 1% rate (down from 6%), and eliminates the fixed plan expiration date. Additionally, the company announced the election of Thomas Reichert to the Board as an independent Class I director effective October 1, 2026, receiving a $120,000 initial restricted stock grant. In executive leadership changes, General Counsel Christopher M. Crain retired to transition into a Corporate Senior Advisor role, and Prabha Sipi Bhandari was appointed as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary.
- Stockholders approved the Second Amended and Restated 2016 Incentive Award Plan, establishing a 12 million share reserve and resetting annual evergreen dilution increases to 1% (down from 6%).
- Thomas Reichert was elected as an independent Class I director effective October 1, 2026, receiving a $120,000 restricted stock grant vesting over three years.
Ad Tech's Public Market Woes: Investment Banker Explains Small-Cap Problem
M&A · Recorded impact score: 4/5
At ExchangeWire's ATS London conference, investment banker Josh Wepman of Houlihan Lokey argued that the struggles of publicly-traded ad tech companies stem from their small market capitalizations, not performance. Most companies are too small to attract significant investment from index funds and mutual funds, with 'it's hard to be a $7 billion company' serving as a key quote. Deal activity has picked up to around $14 billion so far in 2026, but transactions are fewer and larger. Nick Macshane of Progress Partners noted extreme volatility in ad tech stocks, with some companies swinging 60% up or down, suggesting many should not be public. The article highlights take-private trends, mentioning Criteo's rumored buyout, and companies like DoubleVerify, LiveRamp, and Integral Ad Science moving off public markets. It also notes enterprise interest from Salesforce, Adobe, ServiceNow, Workday, Databricks, Snowflake, and OpenAI.
- Josh Wepman, MD at Houlihan Lokey, says public ad tech companies are too small for index/mutual funds to invest meaningfully.
- Public ad tech stocks have underperformed broader tech indices, with declining multiples through 2025-2026.
Explore company relationships
Questions about Houlihan Lokey
What is Houlihan Lokey?
Houlihan Lokey is a public independent investment bank focused on M&A, capital solutions, restructuring, valuation and transaction advisory services.
Who uses Houlihan Lokey?
Its clients are corporations, private equity firms, financial sponsors, creditors, lenders, funds and other institutional investors.
How does Houlihan Lokey make money?
It earns advisory fees from completed transactions, ongoing mandates, valuation work and project-based due diligence engagements.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
13 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
Continue your research on Houlihan Lokey
Explorer includes additional company details, a Watchlist for up to 25 companies and your personal Strategic Intelligence Agent. It monitors your market daily and delivers tailored briefings with clear strategic context whenever relevant news occurs.
Free, with no time limit.