an increased understanding ofsignificant patternsin the historical performance of the target business.

a thorough evaluation of the quality and sustainability of the reported earnings and free cash flow of the target business.

an assessment of the achievability of the target business' financial forecasts.

an understanding of the key tax and financial reporting risks in purchase agreement negotiations.

an evaluation of the post-closing purchase price adjustments.

consideration of the effectsof purchase accounting and valuation requirements in post-transaction financial modelsfor recently acquired businesses.

The Group will be led by Sam W. Clark, Managing Director in Houlihan Lokey's Dallas office. Commenting on the service expansion, Mr. Clark said, "We intend to draw on our transaction expertise from our leading M&A advisory practice to assist clients in executing deals that will help create shareholder value. We have established ourselves as a leading advisor in Tax & Financial Reporting Valuation Services. The addition of transaction due diligence services to our platform enables us to provide our corporate and private equity clients with independent advice starting at the earliest stages of a transaction through to the purchase accounting valuation analyses and ongoing impairment testing."

Jack W. Berka, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Advisory Services, commented, "We have always explored new ways to leverage our experience and existing capabilities to meet the needs of our clients. We're excited to add transaction due diligence to our robust”yet specialized”suite of services and bring new value to our clients."

As part of this expansion, three new executive hires join Houlihan Lokey as Senior Vice Presidents in the firm's Dallas office. Jack Elliott, most recently with Celanese Corporation and Brian Sipes, most recently with Flowserve Corporation, were previously directors of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's Transaction Services practice. Travis Pittman was most recently a partner at the Lockton Companies, LLC and previously provided transaction due diligence services at KPMG LLP and Deloitte & Touche LLP.

About Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey, an international investment bank, provides a wide range of advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, financing, financial restructuring, and valuation. The firm was ranked the No. 1 M&A advisor for U.S. transactions under $2 billion in 2008 and the No. 1 U.S. fairness opinion advisor over the past 10 years by Thomson Reuters. In addition, the firm advised on more than 500 restructuring transactions valued in excess of $1.25 trillion over the past 10 years. Notable engagements cover numerous sectors and virtually all of the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcies, including Lehman Brothers, General Motors, WorldCom and Enron. The firm has more than 800 employees in 14 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Each year we serve more than 1,000 clients ranging from closely held companies to Global 500 corporations. For more information please visit www.HL.com.

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