Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company
Type Private
Industry Financial Services
Founded 2007
Founder(s) Kenneth D. Moelis
Headquarters New York, New York, United States
Products Investment banking, Merchant banking
Employees 520
Website www.moelis.com

Moelis & Company is a global investment banking and merchant banking firm. The firm provides advisory services related to mergers & acquisitions, recapitalization & restructuring, capital markets advisory and risk advisory. The firm also manages investment funds that integrate capital with its advisory expertise.

The firm which was founded in July 2007 by Ken Moelis, the former head of UBS AG's investment banking division, is headquartered in New York with offices in Houston, Dubai, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, London, Sydney and Beijing.

Contents

History

Moelis & Company was founded in 2007 by Ken Moelis and several fellow senior UBS investment bankers that included Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Jeff Raich, John Momtazee, Todd Wadler, Elizabeth Crain and Warren Woo.[1][2][3] Moelis's departure was reportedly caused in part by repeated conflict over the availability of capital from the bank's balance sheet to pursue large transactions, particularly leveraged buyouts.[4][5]

Moelis joined UBS from Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette in 2001, shortly after that firm had been acquired by Credit Suisse First Boston. In his six years at UBS, Moelis ultimately assumed the role of president of UBS Investment Bank and was credited with the build-out of UBS's investment banking operation in in the United States. By the end of 2006, UBS was ranked Top 4 in the global fee pool for the first time.[6]

Moelis began his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert where he was a managing director working for Michael Milken in the firm's Los Angeles office. Following the collapse of Drexel, Moelis left with a portion of his team to join Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette where he served as head of its corporate finance investment banking division.[7] Under Moelis, DLJ emerged as the largest investment banking firm in Los Angeles in the 1990s.[8][9]

Following the acquisition of DLJ by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, Moelis was named head of US investment banking of the combined firm in September 2000.[10] However, his tenure at CSFB would be short, announcing his departure for UBS (then known as UBS Warburg) just months later taking the core of his team with him, including a number that would later join Moelis & Company.[11][12] Moelis recruited more than 70 senior investment bankers to UBS within three months of his arrival.[4]

Moelis & Company benefited from the financial crisis of 2008, recruiting investment bankers from larger firms that had been heavily impacted in the crisis.[13] The firm was one of several notable boutique investment banking firms to recurit aggressively during this period.[14]

Acquisitions

In September 2010, Moelis & Company reached an agreement to acquire a New York-based multi strategy credit manager 'Gracie Credit'. The transaction is expected to be closed by November 2010.[15] In January 2011, Moelis and Company reached an agreement to acquire Hong Kong based Asia Pacific Advisor's in an effort to expand their operations in the Far East. In July 2011, Moelis Capital Partners announced that they would be acquiring CyberCore Technologies. [16]

References

  1. ^ Ex-UBS executive Moelis opens firm. LA Times, July 20, 2007
  2. ^ Ken Moelis parts ways with UBS: Some wonder if the high-profile investment banker will launch his own firm in L.A. LA Times, March 20, 2007
  3. ^ His firm has skin in the game. LA Times, August 5, 2008
  4. ^ a b Future of UBS Executive Part of Wall Street Chatter March 16, 2007
  5. ^ After Losses, UBS Ousts Its Chief. New York Times, July 6, 2007
  6. ^ Moelis Is Leaving UBS. New York Times, March 19, 2007
  7. ^ Moelis to Leave CSFB for Smaller UBS Warburg. LA Times, November 22, 2000
  8. ^ Drexel Alumni Move Onward. New York Times, August 13, 2000
  9. ^ Los Angeles, Back on the Money Map. New York Times, August 13, 2000
  10. ^ Credit Suisse Assigns Executives. New York Times, September 11, 2000
  11. ^ Credit Suisse Is Losing Another of Its Top Bankers. New York Times, November 22, 2000
  12. ^ Two Dozen More Bankers Leave Credit Suisse for UBS. New York Times, December 6, 2000
  13. ^ Crisis Altering Wall St. As Stars Begin to Scatter. New York Times, April 11, 2009
  14. ^ As the Giants of Wall Street Topple, Smaller, Nimbler Rivals Move In. New York Times, September 23, 2008
  15. ^ "Moelis & Company to acquire Gracie Credit". New Statesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/banking-and-insurance/2010/09/moelis-company-gracie. Retrieved 29 September 2010. 
  16. ^ The Baltimore Sun. "Business briefs: Moelis acquires CyberCore Technologies." July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.

External links