Houlihan Lokey hires new capital markets MD from Numis

Ero Partsakoulaki
13 April 2023

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Investment bank Houlihan Lokey has hired David Kelnar as a managing director in its capital markets team to lead its equity private placement division in Europe.

Kelnar has joined the firm from London-headquartered investment bank Numis and will be based in Houlihan Lokey's London office, according to a press release. In his previous role, he served as a managing director and head of growth capital solutions for three years.

Prior to this, Kelnar was a partner and head of research at UK venture capital firm MMC Ventures, having previously spent eight years in senior leadership roles at two startups.

In his new role, he will focus on providing equity solutions, including growth capital and structured equity, for Houlihan Lokey's corporate and sponsor-backed clients in Europe. He will work closely with the firm's equity private placements team in the US, headed by Sean Fitzgerald in New York.

While market conditions have "reset" from their peak in 2021, a growing number of high-quality companies are now planning to fundraise or coming to market in 2023, Kelnar told Unquote. "Given the firm's extensive connectivity and sector expertise, combined with our increased private market focus, we see a growing pipeline of opportunities," he said.

The firm's equity private placements team raised USD 2bn across thirty transactions globally in 2022, according to the press release.

As companies stay private for longer and the pool of private capital providers has expanded significantly in recent years, growth capital is an attractive option for private companies in a range of sectors, he added. He noted that currently, amidst tighter market conditions, investors are prioritising certain propositions including software-as-a-service models, ESG and sustainability-related opportunities, deep tech and artificial intelligence companies.

The investment bank is currently expanding its European team with additional hires at a range of levels, said Kelnar. His is the latest senior appointment to the capital markets team in EMEA and follows the recent appointment of Andy Cairns as a managing director and head of Middle East and Africa capital markets, according to the press release.

Over the past two years, the group has raised approximately USD 25bn in capital and advised on an additional USD 12bn in capital over a total of more than 250 transactions with more than 110 different financial sponsors, it said.