Leonardo, which has been mandated by the likes of Rai Way, TDF and Orange in recent years, will reportedly be sold to Houlihan Lokey for a “double-digit million-euro sum” by the end of the month.
Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) has reportedly inked a preliminary agreement to buy Leonardo, the Italian advisory firm formed by banker Gerardo Braggiotti.
Leonardo, which has been mandated by the likes of Rai Way, TDF and Orange in recent years, will be sold for a “double-digit million-euro sum” by the end of the month, according to a Handelsblatt report citing insiders.
The acquisition would give Houlihan Lokey, which reportedly beat off competition from Jefferies, expertise in Italy, although Leonardo is not the power it once was.
Hit by the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent Eurozone crisis, Bragiotti’s bank is much reduced from the firm that at one point was reportedly advising on 40% of Italian M&A. It does still boast 70 investment bankers across Europe.
Houlihan Lokey, which listed in August, agreed in July to buy London-based adviser McQueen, which specialises in corporate finance advisor to the European consumer sector. In June, it snapped up media-focused boutique MESA Securities.
Houlihan Lokey has previously advised Dubai-based Oger Telecom, Bahrain’s Batelco and Hungarian Magyar Telekom.
At present Houlihan Lokey’s TMT group is led by managing directors John Cooper, Rob Louv, Mark Patricof, and Christopher Wilson.