Houlihan Lokey agrees to acquire Oakley Advisory
London headquartered consultancy Oakley Advisory has been purchased by Houlihan Lokey for an undisclosed fee. The deal brings 14 professionals into the Houlihan Lokey global technology group.
Houlihan Lokey has offices in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. With expertise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital markets, financial restructuring, and valuation, the professional services firm serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide.
The firm has been looking to build its capabilities in recent months via a sustained acquisition campaign. The firm’s latest move has seen Oakley Advisory join its network.
Oakley Advisory was formed in 2015 by Managing Partners Chris Godsmark and Christian Maher - who previously spent eight years building the firm as Oakley Capital Corporate Finance. The Oakley Advisory team provides clients with a full suite of sector specialist services, including private and public company M&A, equity and debt fundraisings, and IPO advisory. To date, the team has completed more than 150 transactions with a combined deal value of over £35 billion and has a large international network of client relationships with corporates, listed companies, private equity funds, infrastructure funds, and family offices.
Speaking on the deal, Godsmark noted that the opportunity to join Houlihan Lokey was a key factor in the deal, presenting Oakley Advisory with a “huge additional runway for future expansion” of its own. Maher meanwhile added that the move would enable Oakley Advisory with more chances to give clients a “true global reach, access to outstanding capital markets expertise, and even more unrivalled private equity relationships,” which could help them benefit from serviced across “all of the major financial centers”.
The acquisition will add a further 14 financial professionals to Houlihan Lokey’s global technology group, bringing the size of the global Digital Infrastructure team to over 40, and the global technology team to more than 235 financial professionals, spread through 14 offices. Meanwhile, Godsmark and Maher join Houlihan Lokey as Managing Directors to spearhead the expansion of the firm’s market-leading digital infrastructure coverage into Europe.
Scott Adelson, Houlihan Lokey’s Co-President and Co-Head of Corporate Finance, remarked, “As we continue to expand our corporate finance business, we are seeking to add strength where we see client demand with individuals or teams that share our track record of success driven by outstanding sector knowledge, a strong corporate culture, and an unerring focus on superior client outcomes. Oakley Advisory is clearly driven by all of these traits and will be highly effective as part of our global team.”
The news comes almost a year after Houlihan Lokey successfully acquired GCA. The deal saw the two companies erge as one firm under the Houlihan Lokey brand, bringing 500 professionals into the firm.
