Houlihan Lokey 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 specialises in providing M&A and corporate finance advisory services to the multinational and independent owners of household, beauty, and personal care (HBPC) assets globally. The transaction signed and completed on 8 July.

Jay Novak, Global Head of the Consumer, Food & Retail (CFR) Group, commented, “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.”

“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,” said Scott Adelson, Houlihan Lokey’s Co-President and Co-Head of Corporate Finance. “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 Tim Leach will join Houlihan Lokey’s European Corporate Finance business in London, bringing the 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,” said Mr. Leach. “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,” added Shaun Browne, Co-Head of UK Corporate Finance at Houlihan Lokey and Head of the firm’s CFR Group in Europe.

Houlihan Lokey’s CFR Group provides M&A advisory, private capital raising, debt and equity financing, restructuring services, financial opinions, valuations, and distressed services for hundreds of consumer, food, and retail companies. Its clients range from early-stage businesses and midsize companies to large, publicly traded corporations.

This is the sixth acquisition that Houlihan Lokey has made in Europe in the past six years, following the acquisitions of McQueen Ltd. and Leonardo & Co. in 2015; BearTooth Advisors and Quayle Munro in 2018; and Fidentiis Capital in 2019. The firm now has more than 260 bankers in Europe, up from 80 in 2014, including 180 in Corporate Finance.

Houlihan Lokey and Baylor Klein acted as their own advisors on this transaction.