Moelis & Co., the investment bank founded in 2007 by former UBS AG banker Kenneth Moelis, filed for a $100 million initial public offering.

The figure is a placeholder used to calculate fees and may change. New York-based Moelis, which provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructuring, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley on the share sale. Moelis is also listed as an underwriter on the deal, according to a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Moelis is seeking to raise funds after mergers and acquisitions activity had its strongest start to the year since before the global financial crisis. The total value of announced deals reached $462.6 billion, the highest since 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Moelis increased its revenue by 6.6 percent to $411.4 million in 2013, the filing shows. Moelis advised on $134 billion in transactions last year, including working with HJ Heinz Co.’s board committee on the ketchup maker’s buyout by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and 3G Capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Net income doubled to $70.2 million, as the company trimmed compensation costs to 64 percent of revenue from 71 percent in 2012, the filing shows. Moelis said it cut its staff of bankers by 7 percent last year.

Moelis’s income gains outpaced those at Greenhill & Co., where profit rose 11 percent last year to $46.7 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Evercore’s stock has gained about 35 percent in the last year, while Greenhill’s has declined almost 9 percent.

Moelis is looking to raise money at a price-to-earnings ratio in the 30s, similar to the levels at which those competitors trade, people familiar with the matter said in January. At last year’s earnings that implies a valuation of at least $2.1 billion.

The investment bank will apply to list its Class A shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MC.