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Houlihan Lokey hired Elsa Berry, BNP Paribas' former head of corporate finance for North America, this month as part of an effort to increase fee income by broadening its geographic reach and getting into another niche in the consumer sector: branded goods.
Berry has three decades of experience, and much of her work has involved cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
In 1984, four years after receiving her MBA from Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Paris, she founded Vendome & Co., an M&A boutique that advised French and German companies looking to expand in the United States. BNP snapped her company up in 1989.
Following the merger of BNP and Paribas in 2000, Berry became co-head of corporate finance for the combined company in New York. In 2006, she was made the sole head of the division.
At Houlihan, Berry will be a managing director and the head of cross-border consumer coverage.
She and two other recent hires from BNP, Louis Fabregas and David Muson, will focus primarily on branded consumer goods, including luxury product, personal care, direct sales, apparel and household product companies.
Fabregas and Muson joined Houlihan as a senior vice president and vice president, respectively. Fabregas, a 15-year investment banking veteran, spent eight years at BNP Paribas, most recently as a director in its corporate finance group. Muson joined BNP Paribas in 2004, where he served as a vice president in its corporate finance group.
Berry says it is "a very exciting time" in the branded consumer goods sector, because a number...