HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, announced today that Bing Chen has joined the Hong Kong office as a Managing Director, further advancing the firm’s ongoing global expansion.

Mr. Chen will be responsible for spearheading the growth of Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Advisory Services business unit in Asia. With Mr. Chen’s arrival, the firm now has expanded senior-level executive presence in Asia across its full range of investment banking services and can provide clients with seamless access to an integrated global platform.

Houlihan Lokey launched its international expansion in London, and has since established offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing.

During the past two decades, Mr. Chen has held leadership positions at global institutions in Asia, the United States and Europe. He has extensive experience and success in the areas of corporate development, restructuring, investment banking and financial advisory services. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Chen served as the Chief Executive Officer of a European specialty financing company.

Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Advisory Services business unit provides clients with assessments, advice and opinions on the fairness or solvency of transactions, the valuation of assets, businesses, securities and complex financial instruments. As an investment banking firm, Houlihan Lokey is able to offer these services without the conflicts faced by other valuation service providers, and is also able to leverage the transaction expertise it gains from advising on hundreds of M&A and restructuring assignments each year. In 2009, Thomson Reuters ranked Houlihan Lokey the No. 1 M&A fairness opinion adviser over the past 10 years.

“There is a growing opportunity in Asia for the independent opinions and advisory services that Houlihan Lokey has come to be known for during the past 40 years,” said Jack W. Berka, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Advisory Services. “The addition of a seasoned professional such as Bing to our Asian team will allow Houlihan Lokey to capitalize on this opportunity and provide Asian clients with the full range of expertise and service that we are recognized for elsewhere in the world.”

Mr. Chen added: “Houlihan Lokey has a strong, established reputation as a trusted financial adviser to clients throughout North America and Europe, and this same reputation is rapidly developing in Asia. The convergence of global and local standards for governance and regulation in Asia are creating a healthy demand for quality valuation and advisory services. I look forward to accelerating the growth of our business by providing premier services to existing and new clients in the region.”

Earlier in his career, Mr. Chen was the Chief Financial Officer of Comdisco Europe, where he restructured businesses in 14 countries with a total value of more than $1.6 billion. Previously, as Director of Corporate Strategy at Deutsche Bank Americas, Mr. Chen directed investment banking strategy, M&A and corporate investments, regulatory compliance, risk and organizational management. He began his career at Arthur Andersen where he led global projects in several groups, including Structured Finance, Derivatives and Treasury Risk Management Consulting, and Audit Services. Mr. Chen holds an MBA in Finance with honors from Columbia Business School and a BBA in Accountancy from the City University of New York. He is a Certified Public Accountant in New York State, and a member of AICPA and Beta Gamma Sigma of Columbia University.

Houlihan Lokey offers a globally-integrated platform of investment banking services to clients located throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. Recent clients served in Asia and Europe include NTT Communications, Mandarin Oriental, Marubeni Corporation, Peak International Limited, France Telecom, Monier Group GmbH and EN+ Group.

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 adviser for U.S. transactions under $2 billion in 2008 and the No. 1 fairness opinion adviser 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.

For more information, please visit www.HL.com.