Houlihan Lokey raises offer for Japan M&A advisory firm

(Reuters) - U.S. investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc has raised its offer price to buy Japanese mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory firm GCA Corporation for about $599.1 million (65.9 billion yen) in cash, the company said on Thursday.

Houlihan Lokey said it had increased its tender offer price by 18 yen ($0.1635) per share to a total of 1,398 yen ($12.71) per share. https://refini.tv/3E2id8s

Last week, the U.S. investment bank, which has strengths in mid-cap M&A deals, said it will launch a tender offer to buy the Tokyo-based firm in a deal worth about $591 million to tap Japan's growing M&A market.

Houlihan said its raised offer took into account GCA's revised 2021 outlook, which included a 21.8% raise in targeted consolidated revenue to $431.8 million compared to a prior forecast.

Dealmaking is rising in Japan, driven by local conglomerates seeking to divest non-core assets or looking overseas for growth in response to the country's aging population.

($1 = 110.0800 yen)

(Reporting by Aakriti Bhalla and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)