Houlihan Lokey RX in Asia

With all the praise that HL RX receives for its North American practice, there is seemingly limited information on its presence in Asia.

How is HL RX doing in Hong Kong/Singapore, and what kind of deals are they usually on? I would also appreciate if anyone could shed some light on how restructuring is perceived in Asia and where the industry is heading in the future. Thanks!

 

They don't have summer class in HK either, maybe recruit summer asso for MBA. They mainly focus on cross-border M&A along with Beijing team, with little RX presence.

 

I don't think that's true. They have a standalone RX team that only does restructuring work across APAC and is now stuffed with mandates especially since the outbreak. From their career website, they've been recruiting actively including SAs and off-cycles across RX, M&A, and FAS.    

 

This may be outdated but a family connection works there and he said they had 0 deals back in 2017 or 2018 when chatting. Not sure if they've picked up since then but fair to assume they're not the most performing RX shop around

 
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100% not true of 0 deals. Family friend owns a public company in China that used HL for a cross border distressed acquisition deal for a company in Europe around 2017-2018.

In response to the OP, RX in Asia tends to be more distressed M&A focus rather than real RX due to difference in bankruptcy codes. For example, in the deal for "my family friend", they were looking to acquire X company in Europe. However, that European company is heavily leveraged and in default. Approach HL RX in Asia to advise them on negotiation with the debt holder for the potential sale. Keep in mind, a lot of the MM companies in Asia tends to be family owned and they are less structured and experience in these situation and doesn't even know where to start. Therefore, the transaction was actually very simple and no where as complex as the RX deals in the U.S. 

I have interviewed with HL in LA, most questions was focus on understanding different tranche of debt, waterfall payment, distressed financing and etc. Therefore, a lot of the work in HL RX is focused on the financial side of RX rather than operational. From my understanding, big 4 RX doesn't do any of that. You're probably better off coming from a lending background or debt capital market.

 

2 things come to mind

1. A Chinese firm that had HL on the deal may only have one office involved, maybe the Beijing office took the lead and ran the show, and I'm aware of the synergy between the 2 offices covering greater China.

2. Family friend may be referring to getting new deals, as opposed to earlier earned deals being done.

When he said 0 deals there may be different meanings, doesn't necessary make the statement false. I simply repeated what he said and there's no need to falsify it, point is the shop isn't a top player in the region

 

Not sure if that is true. HLI recently had a recruitment talk in Singapore and from what they say and the data provided they are pretty strong when it comes to rx. on a side note, for recruitment purposes: the team is extremely small. I think competition will be insane. I have seen the people who managed to get SA positions there and looks like they are pretty closed off to anyone who is not doing finance degree. 

 

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