Investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. has officially filed for an
initial public offering.
The company hasn't yet set the terms of the deal but said it
expects to offer $100 million in common stock. That figure is
typically used as a placeholder to calculate the registration fee
and is likely to change.
The bank plans to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol HLI, according to a filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
The company's filings indicate the bank previously made a
confidential filing for an IPO, which The Wall Street Journal
reported in mid-June.
The firm, which advises companies and investors on mergers,
bankruptcies, shareholder activism and other situations, has been
actively contemplating an IPO since last year. The interest in
listing was sparked in part by the rising share of deal-making
business going to boutique advisory firms, and by the IPO last year
of Moelis & Co., a deals and restructuring adviser.
It isn't yet clear what value Houlihan would fetch in an IPO.
Based on its size relative to Moelis, it could be worth around $2
billion. Moelis, which had revenue of $519 million in 2014, has a
market capitalization of about $1.6 billion.
The firm disclosed in the filing that it had fee revenue of
about $680 million for the year ended in March, and $80 million in
profit. That's up from $592 million and $61 million a year
earlier.
As of March 31, accounts receivable were $57.5 million.
Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were listed
among underwriters for the IPO.
Last year, Houlihan advised on more U.S. deals under $5 billion
than any other bank, according to Thomson Reuters, though it ranked
just 23rd in terms of the dollar volume of mergers to its credit.
The firm has been increasing the size of its assignments, and
recently has advised on several deals worth more than $1
billion.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@dowjones.com
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