Houlihan Lokey

Sycamore Partners, which counts Staples among its investments, has raised its third fund at $4.75 billion. The New York-based PE firm now has about $10 billion in assets.

Houlihan Lokey has formed HL Finance LLC to arrange senior secured leveraged loans for financial sponsor-backed, privately-held, and public corporate entities.

Houlihan Lokey buys BearTooth Advisors; the NYSE has a "strong pipeline" of IPOs coming in June, says Stacey Cunningham, the first woman tapped to lead the exchange.

In other moves, Arsenal promotes three and Houlihan Lokey expands energy group.

KPMG, PWC and Rothschild are among the most active mid-market banks.

KPMG closed more middle-market M&A deals than any other investment bank in the world. PricewaterhouseCoopers, Rothschild & Co., Houlihan Lokey and BDO were among the top 5 in deal volume.

Mergers and Acquisitions' special report celebrates female professionals in investment banking, including Lincoln International's Janki Gandhi.

Colagte, known for its toothpaste, purchased PCA Skin and EltaMD.

Key responsibilities: Heads the structured equity division.

Arsenal and Audax also made investments in the chemicals sector.