GCA and Houlihan Lokey, the global investment bank, have entered into a definitive agreement under which Houlihan Lokey will commence a tender offer to acquire GCA.
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the GCA Board of Directors and the Houlihan Lokey Board of Directors, Houlihan Lokey will commence a tender offer on 4 August, 2021 to acquire all outstanding shares of GCA.
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 United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Houlihan Lokey is the No1 M&A advisor for the past six consecutive years in the US, the No1 global restructuring advisor for the past seven consecutive years, and the No1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 20 years, all based on number of transactions.
Upon 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 will 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, CEO of GCA Altium, says: “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, adds: “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.”
