Houlihan Lokey, Inc., the global investment bank, announced that Heather Smith has joined the firm’s Capital Markets Group as a Managing Director and Head of Structured Equity. Smith will focus on providing customized equity capital solutions to corporate and financial sponsor backed clients for acquisition finance, growth capital and balance sheet recapitalizations. She is based in New York.

Smith has over 20 years of experience in the private placement industry, having raised approximately $12 billion in equity and debt capital for companies in the U.S., Europe and South America. She joins from Sagent Advisors, where she was a Managing Director and Head of the Private Financing Solutions Group with a focus on raising equity and equity-linked securities utilizing complex financing structures for late stage companies. Previous experience includes leading a Private Placement Group at both Deutsche Bank and Greentech Capital where she raised equity, debt, and project finance, and serving as a Director in the Private Placements Group at Credit Suisse.

“The continuing growth of non-traditional capital providers creates attractive opportunities to develop bespoke structured finance solutions for our clients, however successfully accessing this capital requires deep market knowledge and industry relationships,” said Scott Adelson, Co-President and Co-Head of Corporate Finance. “Heather brings those qualities to our market-leading Capital Markets team. Her decades of experience and excellent cultural fit with our passionate approach to client service will be substantially beneficial to our clients and to the continued growth of the business,” he added.

“I’m delighted to join a Capital Markets Group with the financing expertise, depth of insight, and breadth of relationships in the alternative finance universe that Houlihan Lokey has established.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to build on the substantial success they have achieved to date and contribute to the superior client service for which the firm is known,” said Ms. Smith.

Smith holds a B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from Harvard University and an MBA with distinction from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.