Moelis & Co.'s big leap up in the widely watched mergers and acquisitions league tables makes it hard to believe its executives' nonchalance about the rankings.

The independent investment bank, founded four years ago by former UBS AG (UBS) investment banking president Ken Moelis, has advised companies on 24 announced M&A deals year-to-date, valued at $35.5 billion, up from 15 deals worth $9 billion this time last year, according to data provider Dealogic.

Moelis is perhaps better known for its restructuring franchise, in part because it was founded right before the financial crisis erupted. But it is shifting toward M&A advisory as the markets make the same shift. Recent assignments have included advising on Ashland Inc.'s (ASH) $3.2 billion acquisition of International Specialty Products Inc. and Samsonite International SA's (1910.HK) $1.25 billion-Hong Kong initial public offering.

Whereas half of Moelis' pipeline used to be restructuring deals, more than two-thirds of the pipeline now comes from M&A activity.

Restructuring assignments can lead to M&A work, which is how banks like Moelis and Lazard Ltd. (LAZ) ride out the ups and downs of the economy and the feast-and-famine demand for advisory services. Earlier this year, Moelis advised former restructuring client Centro Properties Group on the sale of its 588 U.S. shopping centers to Blackstone Group LP (BX) for $9.4 billion.

So far in 2011, Moelis has climbed into 20th place in Dealogic's M&A rankings, up from the 42nd ranking a year earlier, though certainly less prominent in the standings compared to rivals Lazard Ltd. and Evercore Partners Inc. (EVR), which are 10th and 12th, respectively.

Moelis is one of several so-called boutiques carving a niche among the investment banking elite and expanding through hiring in anticipation of a hot deal market. They all rely on the star-power of their bankers to win assignments, though some have had more success stringing together a steady pipeline.

Greenhill & Co. (GHL), while getting a top spot on AT&T Inc.'s (T) blockbuster $39 billion deal for Deutsche Telekom AG's (DTEGY, DTE.XE) T-Mobile USA business earlier this year, has found itself paying a larger and larger ratio of its revenues as compensation for its growing ranks of bankers while it waits for an expected surge in deal closings.

Greenhill Chief Executive Scott Bok said at an investor conference last week that the merger market is "definitely picking up," and that league tables don't capture all the work the firm does for the government and other clients.

Bankers say they are drawn to entrepreneurial firms like Moelis and Greenhill because they are free from the politics that are typically associated with bulge bracket firms.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Mark Aedy, head of Moelis' Europe, Middle East and Africa Investment Banking business, said the firm isn't "constrained by league table pressure." Until early 2009, Aedy was head of Europe at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Moelis is privately held and doesn't disclose its finances. But its ranks have grown by the dozens since its founding. In London, it has gone from four people to about 100 over a nearly three-year period. Since 2007, Moelis in New York has gone from six to roughly 250. Globally it now has 500 employees.

Aedy and Richard Leaman, a managing director, who joined Moelis nearly a year ago from UBS, where he was chairman of the firm's investment banking unit, said deal activity is picking up. "Corporations are well capitalized and are looking for external opportunities," Aedy said. "I can't really think of a sector where there isn't activity right now."

Moelis is still growing. The firm recently hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) banker Brady Parish to help build up its new Houston office focused on the energy industry. In general, Moelis plans to hire more bankers in oil, gas, healthcare and its financial institutions group.

Moelis may consider moving into equity sales and trading, something rival firms like Evercore have already begun to build. Executives have had thoughts about it, but such plans could be just aspirations. The firm says its focus is on its current business model.

Almost since its beginning there has been speculation about the firm's intention to file a public offering, and that speculation has not abated, though the company said it isn't a top priority.

Leaman said a potential initial public offering "isn't front and center," though he acknowledges it "could happen one day, but we don't need the capital."

-By Brett Philbin and Liz Moyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2173; brett.philbin@dowjones.com

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