Houlihan Lokey, a global investment bank, acquired boutique advisory firm Baylor Klein as it continues to grow its corporate finance business in Europe.
Founded in 2008 by managing director Tim Leach, Baylor Klein specializes in providing M&A and corporate finance advisory services to multinational and independent owners of household, beauty and personal care (HBPC) assets globally.
“The Baylor Klein acquisition further expands our global CFR group and specifically adds deeper expertise to the already robust HBPC sector activity, led in North America by managing director Susan Roddy,” Jay Novak, global head of the consumer, food and retail (CFR) group at Houlihan Lokey, said.
“As with all our acquisitions, the Baylor Klein team embodies and shares with Houlihan Lokey a number of important cultural traits, including a steadfast dedication to its clients and a track record of success that confirms genuinely deep and superior sector expertise,” Scott Adelson, co-president and co-head of corporate finance at Houlihan Lokey, said. “They are true leaders in their field, and we think they will be a fantastic addition to our outstanding CFR team.”
As part of this transaction, Baylor Klein’s team of five advisory professionals led by Leach will join Houlihan Lokey’s European corporate finance business in London, bringing the firm’s global CFR team to more than 70 financial professionals.
“We are proud of what Baylor Klein has achieved over the past 13 years, and we are excited to be joining a firm with such an outstanding reputation in the consumer, food and retail sector,” Leach said. “As well as its true global reach and unrivalled private equity relationships, Houlihan Lokey prides itself in its best-in-class sector knowledge, and we look forward to bringing a new dimension to its coverage of the HBPC market.”
“We have known Tim for many years and are delighted that he and the team are bringing their market-leading expertise to the firm. Our European CFR team continues to enjoy tremendous success, having advised on 26 transactions over the past year, and the addition of this new practice area in Europe is the next chapter in the growth of our business,” Shaun Browne, co-head of UK corporate finance at Houlihan Lokey and head of the firm’s CFR group in Europe, said.
Houlihan Lokey and Baylor Klein acted as their own advisors on this transaction.
