Houlihan Lokey announced a significant expansion of its Oil & Gas Exploration and Production (E&P) group that includes an experienced Acquisitions and Divestitures (A&D) team with deep expertise in the oil and gas sector.

As part of this expansion, the firm has appointed Kirk Tholen managing director and head of the A&D practice in Houston. Tholen joins from Credit Agricole’s Corporate and Investment Bank, where he was a managing director and group head of Acquisitions & Divestitures, Americas for the past three years. With close to 25 years of experience in the sector, Tholen’s expertise spans nearly every aspect of the oil and gas industry.

“We’re delighted that Kirk and his colleagues have joined the firm and we could not be more excited to introduce them to our current and future clients, who will benefit substantially from the addition of a high-caliber technical transactional advisory team,” said J.P. Hanson, head of Houlihan Lokey’s E&P group.

The Houlihan Lokey A&D team will assist the firm’s oil and gas clients with the identification, valuation, acquisition and divestiture of short- and long-term assets as part of companies’ overall asset allocation strategies. The team also will include technical experts to conduct research, subsurface analyses and engineering-based asset valuations, allowing Houlihan Lokey to further elevate its service to the upstream sector.

“Houlihan Lokey has a long history of advising oil and gas clients across all of its businesses, particularly in Corporate Finance and Financial Restructuring,” said Scott Beiser, Houlihan Lokey’s CEO. “The addition of technical and A&D experts to the E&P Group expands our overall service offering and cements our coverage capabilities in the sector, both geographically and in terms of the depth and breadth of expertise that we continue to deliver to our clients.”