Libra Securities Joins Houlihan Lokey

November 3, 2009 9:00 AM EST

Jess Ravich Joins as a Managing Director and Head of Debt Capital Markets

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, announced today that it has significantly enhanced its ability to provide debt financing solutions for its clients with the addition of all of the Libra Securities professionals. Founded and headed by Jess Ravich, Libra has been providing innovative financing solutions to clients for more than 18 years with a focus on raising capital for the gaming industry, with such notable clients as Bally's Park Place, Boyd Gaming and Horseshoe Gaming.

Mr. Ravich, who joins Houlihan Lokey as a managing director and head of Debt Capital Markets, brings a unique combination of capital markets experience coupled with the entrepreneurial experience of building a successful investment bank.

Commenting on these hires, Jeff Werbalowsky, Co-CEO of Houlihan Lokey, said, "We are excited to have Jess and the Libra team on board. Our middle market clients need capital in this recovering economy. With the skills and experience Jess brings to our firm and our busy financing team, we are looking forward to making a lot of those clients very happy through creative sale or financing solutions."

Mr. Ravich said, "Houlihan Lokey is known as a premier advisor of clients in all areas of corporate finance. Their industry-driven, senior-focused approach to investment banking strongly aligns with our own, and we believe that their client base will benefit from our full range of financing expertise. We look forward to merging our teams as we continue to serve existing and new clients."

Mr. Ravich was founder, president and CEO of Libra Securities with supervision over sales, trading and capital markets and corporate finance transactions. Prior to that, he was executive vice president of the fixed income department at Jefferies & Company. Prior to Jefferies, Mr. Ravich was at Drexel Burnham Lambert where he was a member of the Executive Committee of the high yield group and shared responsibility for running high yield trading from 1988 until Drexel closed in 1990. Mr. Ravich is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, summa cum laude, and Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, as well as editor of The Harvard Law Review.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, provides a wide range of advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, financing, financial restructuring, and valuation. The firm was ranked the No. 1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion in 2008 and the No. 1 U.S. fairness opinion advisor over the past 10 years by Thomson Reuters. In addition, the firm advised on more than 500 restructuring transactions valued in excess of $1.25 trillion over the past 10 years. Notable engagements cover numerous sectors and virtually all of the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcies, including Lehman Brothers, General Motors, WorldCom and Enron. The firm has more than 800 employees in 14 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Each year we serve more than 1,000 clients ranging from closely held companies to Global 500 corporations.

    Source: Houlihan Lokey

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