Houlihan Lokey update?

New to the industry and doing some research on mid-market IB's although there doesn't seem to be as much info on Houlihan Lokey compared to other firms (Baird, WB, Jeff etc.). How is the deal flow for the M&A group (have heard they work their analysts to the bone)? And how's the comp? According to a few posts I've seen M&A is at least $105k and RX is higher though i'm unsure if that is still accurate. HL also promotes their FAS group (#1 in the industry according to their website) but haven't found much info on wso -- does their base match M&A?

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Thanks for that info. do you have any info on their FAS group? Will be trying to pursue corp fin. but am curious as to how this group is perceived/compensated

 

Recently interviewed for an analyst role with FAS in their Portfolio Valuation team. Super technical exam with a lot of accounting, valuation, DCF, Libor questions. Even after the technical exam, during the Superday they will ask you even more technical questions. Houlihan Lokey has a great reputation in the industry so there’s plenty of exit ops as well.

From what I could gather from an analyst I connected with: 60-80 hour weeks are normal. They were working on valuing debt securities for various HF and PE firms at the time. The offer they got was for $80k, $5k signing, 40% for a target mid-bucket bonus in early 2021. Hope this helps!

 

How is it above RJ, WB, Baird, and WF?

HL works on smaller deals than all of those shops except for maybe RJ but RJ’s tech group is better than any HL M&A group. WB Tech and Healthcare are better than any HL M&A group and exits for WB are also significantly better pretty much across the board. Baird has better pay than HL and Baird’s industrials group is better than any HL M&A group. Finally, WF is a weird one to include in here because they mostly do capital markets work rather than M&A but exit opps from WF, especially from non-Charlotte offices are way better than from HL M&A. However, if you love HL M&A for some reason, I would avoid healthcare at all costs. I have a lot of friends who work/ed at HL and most recommend consumer and business services while still saying that HL is a place to be avoided. 
TLDR: Avoid HL M&A is possible

 

LMFAO bro how salty are you to be working at RJ… I don’t even work at HL but this is just what the street thinks.

HL does average deal value of 700M for 531 deals last year. None of the other banks you mentioned are even remotely close to that. Sure, WB HC and Tech are great groups too but comparing Baird and RJ (based solely off comp - laughable metric to measure by) is just plain stupid.

They consistently exit to MM/UMM funds off a quick LinkedIn search - Apax, CVC and MS PE in last 3 years. Sorry you got stuck at RJ, intern.

 

This is poor banter. I’m assuming you either work at or worked at HL. I don’t work at any of the above shops. I don’t know anyone who take HL over any of the other shops listed for M&A besides maybe RJ and I went to a heavy target school for HL. Also, hilarious that you mention those PE outcomes because I know two of those guys and they both hate HL and would recommend any of the other shops ahead of HL.

 

HL is the top M&A bank in the world by transaction volume (531 M&A deals) and its most active coverage group is their HC group (43 M&A deals under $1bn). Not only do they close way more deals than all the other banks you listed, they also have a higher average deal size. You're literally wrong on all your points.

Sources:

https://hl.com/industry-coverage/healthcare/   

https://www.globaldata.com/goldman-sachs-houlihan-lokey-top-ma-financia…

 
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  • Elite RX (largest and arguably best in world)
  • Top MM M&A (More volume than anyone globally)
  • Strong Valuations group (not = pay, but way less hours)

Tech was historically a weakness, but it seems like with the GCA acquisition, they now have a strong tech group as well.

Basically, great shop for M&A or debt junkies, and exits are basically unlimited (everyone knows HL is a solid training ground). Not the place to do ECM and chill.

 

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