Abelow Rejoins Houlihan Lokey
Justin Abelow left Deutsche Bank, returning to his mid-market roots.
May 22, 2009
Justin Abelow is back at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, resuming his previous role as a managing director within the firm’s M&A advisory group. Abelow had left Houlihan a little less than two years ago to join Deutsche Bank’s Financial Sponsors group, where he focused specifically on middle-market private equity clients.
Abelow started his career as a lawyer with Davis Polk & Wardwell and put in stints with JPMorgan, First Boston and Barclays before landing at Houlihan Lokey in 2002.
Mergers & Acquisitions was unable to reach Abelow for comment as of press time.
The defection could be considered a hit to Deutsche Bank’s mid-market aspirations. A spokesman from the bank would only confirm Abelow’s departure.
When Abelow joined Deutsche Bank in 2007, his hiring underscored the firm’s efforts to target the middle market. David Platt also joined the bank a few months later from Bank of America, further bolstering the bank’s efforts in the segment.
In recent months, however, Deutsche has suffered some notable departures, losing a number of players to the more traditional mid-market firms. Larry Zimmerman, in February, left to join Piper Jaffray & Co., while BMO Capital Markets poached Tom Krasnewich in January. In March, Deutsche vet Gregory Byrnes made the jump to the corporate side, joining Carlson as a senior vice president and head of corporate development.
Last year, Deutsche Bank finished in the top ten of the league tables for deals sized $500 million and below. The bank, with $8.7 billion in deal volume, finished the year behind Lazard, which acquired mid-market firm Goldsmith Agio & Helms in 2007, and ahead of both Jefferies & Co. and Houlihan Lokey.
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