GCA Altium enters into tender offer to be acquired by US rival
Global investment bank GCA Altium, and Houlihan Lokey, have entered into an agreement under which Houlihan Lokey will start a tender offer to acquire GCA.
GCA has offices in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.
Los Angeles-based Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, and valuation.
The firm serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region.
It is the No. 1 M&A advisor for the past six consecutive years in the US, the No. 1 global restructuring advisor for the past seven consecutive years, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 20 years, all based on number of transactions.
On completion of the transaction, GCA will be fully integrated into Houlihan Lokey and GCA Altium and GCA’s US business will operate under the Houlihan Lokey brand.
Being part of the platform is expected to create many opportunities for GCA’s clients, providing access to a much larger US platform across many key sectors, broader sector expertise across the European business, and a larger service offering.
There will be no change to teams or processes in any ongoing deals as a result of the proposed transaction.
Phil Adams, Manchester-based GCA Altium chief executive, said: “Becoming part of Houlihan Lokey is a hugely exciting step for GCA and a milestone on our strong growth journey.
“The two firms combined will form the largest independent global M&A boutique, and the scale of our global platform will create fantastic opportunities both for our clients and our teams. We feel that GCA and Houlihan Lokey complement each other perfectly in terms of our culture, sector and geographic coverage. We look forward to becoming part of such an outstanding firm.”
Scott Beiser, CEO of Houlihan Lokey, said: “The acquisition of GCA will immediately create one of the largest technology advisors in the world, one that more closely matches the size and importance of this sector in today’s global economy.
“In addition, this combination would significantly expand our presence in Europe and Asia and establish Houlihan Lokey as one of the most geographically diversified investment banking firms among our peer group.
“GCA’s corporate culture, business philosophy, and client focus all closely resemble Houlihan Lokey’s, and we believe our combined organisations will enable us to more effectively serve our clients and position our firm for the future as we continue to grow our suite of products and services around the world.”
