Houlihan Lokey vs Moelis: which fits the company you are selling?

The short answer

Houlihan Lokey and Moelis & Company are both large, public, independent advisory firms, and that is where the resemblance ends. Houlihan Lokey is a volume franchise built around the mid-cap: 339 managing directors, a stated majority of engagements in mid-cap transactions, and the No. 1 ranking by number of deals. Moelis is a senior-advice house built by Ken Moelis in 2007, with 169 managing directors and no league tables in its investor materials at all, because count is not its argument. Which one fits depends on whether your transaction is one of hundreds like it this year, or one the firm will treat as an event.

What each firm says it is

Houlihan Lokey states its position bluntly. Per its fiscal 2025 10-K, a majority of its engagements relate to mid-cap transactions, a segment it calls underserved by bulge-bracket banks, and it describes itself as consistently selling more companies under $1 billion than any competitor. Its fiscal 2025 earnings release claims the No. 1 spot for all global M&A transactions for two consecutive years and the No. 1 U.S. M&A advisor for ten, by transaction count per LSEG, with 458 deals in 2025 against Goldman Sachs at 441. It also runs the No. 1 global restructuring franchise by count, eleven years running per the same source.

Moelis describes itself as a leading global independent investment bank providing innovative strategic advice. Its 10-K lists clients from large multinationals to middle market private companies and entrepreneurs, and notes that its top ten transactions produced roughly 19 percent of 2024 revenue, which tells you the shape of the business: fewer, larger, more episodic mandates. The firm publishes no league-table claims in the materials we reviewed. Revenue reached a record of roughly $1.54 billion in 2025, up 28 percent, against Houlihan Lokey’s $2.39 billion fiscal 2025.

Side by side, from their own filings

All figures from each firm’s 10-K and earnings releases, cited below. Neither firm publishes fees or a minimum deal size, so any adviser who quotes you either firm’s “typical fee” is guessing.

How a founder should choose between them

If your company sits in the true mid-cap, roughly $300 million to $1 billion, Houlihan Lokey’s model was built for you: deep sector teams, a 150-person technology group, and a machine that runs hundreds of processes a year, which means the playbook for your situation already exists. The trade embedded in that volume is arithmetic. Four hundred fifty-eight LSEG-counted deals across 339 managing directors means the firm’s advantage is the system, and your outcome depends on which team inside it you get. Ask which MD runs your deal day to day and how many mandates that person is carrying, and get the answer in the engagement letter.

Moelis earns its fee in a different situation: a transaction with a strategic decision inside it, a complicated shareholder table, a restructuring overlay, or a board that wants a name in the room when the other side brings one. You are buying senior judgment applied to an unusual problem, not a repeatable process. The revenue concentration in its own filings says the firm is organized around exactly those mandates.

Where neither is the natural answer

Below roughly $300 million, the economics of a 1,300 to 2,700-person public firm work against senior attention, whatever the marketing says. Houlihan Lokey genuinely reaches further down-market than most large firms, its own 10-K says so, but a founder-led company at $20 million or $80 million is staffing math at any firm of that size. That segment belongs to specialist boutiques where the senior banker who pitched runs the process, which is the model we compare directly against Moelis here, and the criteria for choosing among boutiques are covered in what to look for before hiring an advisor.

Questions founders ask

Is Houlihan Lokey or Moelis better for selling a private company?

For mid-cap companies, roughly $300 million to $1 billion, Houlihan Lokey’s volume franchise and sector depth are built for the job, and its own filings state a mid-cap majority. Moelis fits transactions with a strategic or special-situations dimension where senior judgment matters more than process repetition. Below $300 million, both firms’ size works against senior attention, and specialist boutiques become the natural choice.

What do Houlihan Lokey and Moelis charge?

Neither firm publishes fees, retainers, or minimums anywhere, including their SEC filings. Any specific number you hear is anecdote, not schedule. Ask for the full fee structure in writing before signing, whatever firm you talk to.

Which firm is stronger in technology?

By published evidence, Houlihan Lokey: it claims the No. 1 global technology M&A ranking by 2025 deal count per LSEG, with roughly 150 dedicated technology professionals. Moelis lists technology among its 13 sector groups but publishes no comparable practice detail.

Published August 12, 2026 by Jeff Barrington, Founder and Managing Director, Windsor Drake. Facts about named firms are drawn from the sources listed above; corrections to factual claims are made promptly on request to info@windsordrake.com. Content on this page may be cited with attribution and a link to https://windsordrake.com/houlihan-lokey-vs-moelis/