Houlihan Lokey vs Lincoln International

8-K Financial Filing Analysis for Houlihan Lokey (2026-09-22)

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.
• Christopher M. Crain retired as General Counsel to become Corporate Senior Advisor, with Prabha Sipi Bhandari appointed as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary on September 16, 2026.

Ad Tech's Public Market Woes: Investment Banker Explains Small-Cap Problem

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.
• Deal activity reached approximately $14 billion so far in 2026, spread across fewer, larger deals.

10-Q Financial Filing Analysis for Lincoln International (2026-08-10)

Lincoln International, Inc. reported its second-quarter 2026 financial results, marking its first periodic filing following its initial public offering (IPO) on May 21, 2026. For the three months ended June 30, 2026, total revenues reached $225.69 million, an increase of 50.8% year-over-year from $149.66 million, driven by recovering private market M&A volume and the consolidation of the MarshBerry acquisition completed in October 2025. The company recorded an operating loss of $15.88 million and a net loss of $22.95 million (net income attributable to Lincoln International, Inc. was $0.46 million), pressured by post-IPO corporate reorganization adjustments, higher compensation, and a non-recurring $28.68 million expense for Liquidity Event share awards. Operating cash flow for the first half of 2026 strengthened to $103.30 million, and the company utilized net IPO proceeds to deleverage its balance sheet by repaying $195.8 million of term debt.

• Q2 2026 total revenues rose 50.8% year-over-year to $225.69 million, while six-month revenues grew 36.1% to $383.49 million.
• Operating income shifted to a loss of $15.88 million in Q2 2026 from an operating profit of $32.14 million in Q2 2025, primarily due to public company compensation structure changes and a $28.68 million non-cash charge for Liquidity Event Shares.
• Gross IPO proceeds of $484.1 million (net proceeds of $440.5 million to the company) enabled a $195.8 million repayment of the Term Loan Credit Facility, reducing long-term debt carrying value to $101.93 million as of June 30, 2026.

Lincoln Named “Debt Advisor of the Year” at Mergermarket’s 2026 European PE Awards

Mergermarket recognized Lincoln International as “Debt Advisor of the Year” for its European private equity financing and capital advisory work, reflecting the team’s breadth of lender access and execution for clients.

8-K Financial Filing Analysis for Lincoln International (2026-08-14)

On August 12, 2026, Lincoln International, Inc. issued 1,433,927 shares of Class A common stock to certain current and former partners (or their estates) of Lincoln International, LP ('LILP') in satisfaction of a post-IPO liquidity commitment. As previously disclosed in the company's May 19, 2026 IPO prospectus, the firm was obligated within 90 days of closing to execute this 'Liquidity Event Issuance' under the terms of LILP's amended partnership agreements. The transaction satisfies historical repurchase obligations for partners who departed due to retirement, disability, death, or specific termination events, and was executed as an unregistered private placement under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

• Issued 1,433,927 unregistered shares of Class A common stock on August 12, 2026, pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
• Fulfills a mandatory post-IPO obligation to issue shares within 90 days of the May 19, 2026 initial public offering closing.
• Shares were distributed to 'Liquidity Event Partners' whose partnership units in Lincoln International, LP were historically repurchased due to retirement, death, disability, or specific pre-IPO termination events.