Houlihan Lokey Announces Two Senior Hires to Continue Expansion of European Financial Sponsors Group

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI), the global investment bank, today announced
the appointments of Christian Keller and Ann Sharkey to further
strengthen the firm’s European Financial Sponsors Group.

These appointments follow the recent arrival of Leon Gillespie, who
joined the team in London in October to focus on U.K. private equity
clients. He joined from Canaccord Genuity, where he was Head of
Financial Sponsors Coverage.

“As part of the ongoing expansion of Houlihan Lokey’s footprint in
Europe, we continue to grow the European Financial Sponsors Group and
now have six dedicated senior officers across the region,” said John
Mavredakis, Global Head of the Financial Sponsors Group. “Christian and
Ann bring deep industry experience which suits our culture perfectly.
Their expertise will complement our existing team, enabling us to
strategically expand both our geographic coverage capability and our
coverage of hedge funds and alternative investors in Europe.”

Based in Frankfurt, Mr. Keller joins the firm as a Managing Director to
lead its Financial Sponsors coverage in the DACH region. He joins from
HSBC, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Leveraged &
Acquisition Finance in Germany. As such, he was responsible for the
origination of event related financing transactions for private equity
and corporate clients; and sponsor coverage for large and mid-cap
private equity clients in DACH. Prior to HSBC, he spent 16 years at
Unicredit Bank, latterly as a Managing Director in Financial Sponsor
Solutions.

“We are constantly seeking to add outstanding senior bankers to our team
in the DACH region, to increase our sector focus and strengthen our
coverage efforts,” commented Ulrich Graebner, Head of Corporate Finance,
Germany. “Having such an experienced professional as Christian here will
enable us to serve our Financial Sponsor clients in a more structured
fashion, with access to the deep industry knowledge within our European
sector teams that now include Industrials, Business Services, Data
Analytics, Financial Services, Real Estate, and Consumer, Food & Retail;
as well as our debt capital markets expertise, and colleagues across
Houlihan Lokey’s global network.”

Ms. Sharkey joins the firm as a Managing Director in the Financial
Sponsor’s coverage team in London, to focus on covering hedge funds,
alternative investors, and financial institutions. Most recently an
investment consultant to Real Estate Funds and Private Equity Funds, Ms.
Sharkey was formerly a Managing Director at both Castlelake and Carval
Investors, focusing on European credit opportunities. She spent eight
years at Citigroup, covering European and U.S. distressed investors, and
also served as Head of Research for the European arm of Citigroup’s
Global Special Situations Group. She began her career in 1997 with
Merrill Lynch, specializing in investing in European distressed
companies.

“We are delighted to welcome Ann to the Houlihan Lokey coverage team.
She brings extensive expertise in all segments of the distressed debt
markets and is a great fit to lead our coverage efforts in that sector,”
commented Joseph Swanson, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of
Houlihan Lokey’s European Financial Restructuring Group.

Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Sponsors Group consists of 18 senior officers
across Europe and the U.S., covering over 750 private equity firms, 200
hedge funds, and 100 family offices. In 2017, the Group worked on over
800 sponsor-related engagements, and over the past five years Houlihan
Lokey has sold over 375 companies to financial sponsors. Recent European
transactions include the sale of Jack Wolfskin by the group of creditors
Bain Capital, CQS, and HIG Bayside to Callaway Golf; the sale of
Tangerine for Blackstone to Valeo; the sale of Meadow Foods for Paine
Schwartz to Exponent; the sale of ipan for Warburg Pincus to Castik
Capital, and the sale of Tails.com for Octopus to Nestlé.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) is a global investment bank with expertise in
mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring,
valuation, and strategic consulting. The firm serves corporations,
institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the United
States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Independent advice and intellectual rigor are hallmarks of the firm’s
commitment to client success across its advisory services. Houlihan
Lokey is ranked as the No. 1 M&A advisor for all U.S. transactions, the
No. 1 global restructuring advisor, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness
opinion advisor over the past 20 years, according to Thomson Reuters.
For more information, please visit www.HL.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190117005233/en/