Houlihan Lokey Acquires Mesa Securities

Houlihan Lokey has acquired Mesa Securities in a move that gives the investment bank access to the boutique firm’s ties to top media and entertainment players.

Mesa, which was founded seven years ago, advises on and helps film, television, music and digital companies orchestrate mergers and acquisitions, private placements and structured finance. It has worked on over 80 deals since its inception, including Colony Capital’s acquisition of Miramax, Google’s purchase of Songza and structured finance transactions for Relativity and Imax, while advising the likes of Discovery Channel, Time Inc. and Viacom.

The move comes as Houlihan Lokey is reportedly taking steps for a public offering that is on pace to happen this year.

The Mesa team will join Houlihan Lokey’s existing Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group, with Mark Patricof — managing partner and one of MESA’s co-founders — joining John Cooper, Rob Louv and Chris Wilson as one of the co-heads of the group. Mesa’s two other co-founders, Jerome Levy and Brian Richards, will join the group as managing directors.

“We have had inquiries over the years from numerous investment banks, but we saw Houlihan Lokey as the ideal fit based on their strategy, leadership, and deep entrepreneurial spirit and DNA,” Patricof said in a statement.

Houlihan Lokey and Mesa advised itself on the transaction. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP served as legal counsel to Houlihan Lokey, while Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff and Cohen was legal counsel to Mesa.

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