Century City investment bank Houlihan Lokey plans to go public

Houlihan Lokey Inc., a boutique Los Angeles investment bank that advises companies on acquisitions during good times and bankruptcies during bad, plans to offer stock to the public.

Houlihan, founded in 1972, did not disclose the number or planned price of the shares to be sold.

The sellers are a U.S. affiliate of Tokyo’s Orix Corp., which is Houlihan’s majority shareholder, along with certain employees and managers of the Century City firm, according to a filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC filing said that from fiscal 2000 to fiscal 2015, Houlihan’s revenue grew to $680.9 million, from $144.1 million, and its net income increased to $79.9 million, from $15.6 million.

As of its fiscal year ended March 31, Houlihan said it had 668 financial professionals working in 17 offices around the world, including 200 in New York, its largest office.

The approximately 800 clients it serves a year range from closely held companies to Fortune Global 500 corporations.

Houlihan described its corporate finance group as the leading mergers and acquisitions and capital markets advisor for mid-cap transactions, ranking No. 1 in U.S. merger and acquisition transactions under $5 billion in 2014.

Follow @ScottReckard for news of banks and home loans