LONDON, ENGLAND – 24 September 2007 – Houlihan Lokey today announced that E.W. (Sandy) Purcell and Jean-Florent Rerolle have been appointed Co-Heads of the firm’s European Financial Advisory Services (FAS) practice. Mr. Purcell, a Managing Director in the firm’s London office, has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services and advisory industry and previously headed Houlihan Lokey’s Midwest FAS practice in the United States. Mr. Purcell will also serve as the Head of FAS for the United Kingdom.

Mr. Rerolle, Managing Director and the Head of FAS for France, joined Houlihan Lokey in 2005 and has been instrumental in building the FAS practice throughout Europe. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Rerolle was with Ernst & Young, making Partner in 1995. He is one of the founders and a member of the board of the Institut Français des Administrateurs and he is the Chairman of the Société Française des Evaluateurs.

Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Advisory Services practice offerings include fairness, solvency, and other transaction-related opinions; risk assessments; portfolio valuation; equity incentive plans; intangible asset valuation; transfer pricing consultation; and tax and financial reporting valuation services such as purchase price allocation and goodwill impairment.

Jack W. Berka, Global Head of Houlihan Lokey’s FAS practice, said, “We want to provide for the rapidly expanding and increasingly complex needs of our European clients and enhance local coverage for our global corporate, law firm, and private equity clients. Sandy and Jean-Florent are the ideal candidates to greatly accelerate our growth in the U.K. and Europe and further allow us to provide premier advisory services to our clients on an international scale.”

Commenting on his new role, Mr. Purcell said, “We see a convergence of explosive growth in global financial markets, increasing size, sophistication and complexity of financial transactions and structures, shareholder activism and regulatory oversight. All of which increase the need for third-party and conflict-free valuation and opinion services. Houlihan Lokey is uniquely suited to provide for these growing needs, given our depth of experience and capabilities in these service areas in the European marketplace and globally.”

Mr. Rerolle added, “The addition of a senior professional like Sandy to our European team will be a boost for our development throughout the region. His experience and reputation in fairness, solvency, and other transaction opinions in sophisticated multi-national transactions will be invaluable for many of our clients whose corporate governance environment is largely influenced by international practices and players.”

About Houlihan Lokey

United Kingdom / Europe
Houlihan Lokey opened its London office in 2002 and rapidly established itself as a leading financial advisor in Europe. The firm has advised on major transactions in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, including international restructurings and Trans-Atlantic M&A. In late 2006, Houlihan Lokey served as an independent expert to provide a fairness opinion for Euronext N.V. in its $10 billion merger with the New York Stock Exchange. The firm has recently completed a financial analysis for the board of Eurotunnel regarding the impact of the restructuring plan on shareholders.

Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, provides a wide range of services, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, financial opinions and advisory services, and financial restructuring. In 2006, Houlihan Lokey ranked as the No. 1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $1 billion, according to Thomson Financial. The firm is the No. 1 M&A fairness opinion advisor and has one of the largest worldwide financial restructuring practices of any investment bank. Established in 1970, the firm has over 800 employees in 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. We annually serve more than 1,000 clients ranging from closely held companies to Global 500 corporations. For more information, visit Houlihan Lokey’s Web site at www.hlhz.com.