It was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York City, with 20 offices in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.[4] It has 1078 employees, including 765 investment bankers. Of the 137 managing directors, averaging more than 20 years of experience each, 56 are former sector and product heads.[5]
History
Moelis was founded in July 2007 by Ken Moelis and partners including Navid Mahmoodzadegan and Jeffrey Raich.[2] The firm opened in New York and Los Angeles, and became a top 10 ranked M&A advisor in the US in its first full year of operations,[2] advising on transactions such as Anheuser-Busch's $61.2 billion sale to InBev, Yahoo's defense from Microsoft's $44.6 billion unsolicited proposal, and Hilton Hotels' $26.5 billion sale to The Blackstone Group.[6]
In July 2008, Moelis opened its restructuring practice by hiring the co-heads of Jefferies' restructuring[7] and advising on the $22.2 billion reorganization of Delphi Automotive, and the $29.6 billion reorganization of AMR Corp and $17.0 billion merger with US Airways Group. Matthew Prest, the restructuring head of European corporate finance firm Close Brothers,[8][9] soon followed with his team to join Moelis in London.[10] Early European restructuring mandates included the £1.5 billion recapitalization of the Co-operative Bank and the €15.4 billion restructuring of Glitnir.[11]
In June 2009 Mark Aedy joined Moelis as head of EMEA Investment Banking based in the London office.[12] Early mandates in Europe included advising Natixis on the €30.0 billion disposal of most of its complex credit derivative portfolio.[6]
In August 2009 Moelis opened an office in Sydney, Australia, led by a team from JP Morgan.[13] In Australia, Moelis has advised SABMiller on the A$11.7 billion acquisition of Fosters Group, advised a consortium including Deutsche Bank, KKR and Värde Partners on the A$8.2 billion acquisition of GE Capital Australia & New Zealand Consumer Finance, and advised Centro Properties on the A$4.3 billion restructuring and A$5.0 billion merger of Australian interests.[6]
The firm opened a Dubai office in January 2011 [14] while advising the Government of Dubai on the $24.9 billion restructuring of its investment holding company, Dubai World.[6] The firm also expanded into Asia by opening a Hong Kong office.[15]
In January 2012, Moelis announced a strategic alliance agreement with the second largest Japanese bank, SMBC and its subsidiary SMBC Nikko Securities.[16] Together they have advised on significant cross-border M&A, including Osaka Securities Exchange's ¥278.4 billion combination with the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In March 2014, the firm expanded into South America, opening an office in São Paulo, Brazil.[17]
In April 2014, the firm completed its initial public offering and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.[18] Moelis had advised on over $1 trillion in transactions by the time of its IPO.[19] Employees maintain ownership of the majority of the company.[20]
In June 2014, Moelis established a private funds advisory business with four hires.[21]
In February 2015, the firm opened its Washington DC office, following the hire of Eric Cantor, former House Majority Leader, in September 2014.[22]
In April 2017, the firm held an initial public offering (IPO) for its Australian business, Moelis Australia.[citation needed]
On June 9, 2024, one of the firm's managing directors who leads the business services sector, Jonathan Kaye, was filmed in Brooklyn punching a person in the face. The firm released a statement confirming the man in the video was one of their employees and that the company is conducting an investigation into the incident.[23]
Global reach
Moelis operates from 21 offices globally across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia:[24]
