Houlihan Lokey said that Edward Middleton has joined the firm as a managing director and co-head of financial restructuring in Asia alongside Brandon Gale.
He is based in Hong Kong, the US-listed boutique investment bank said in a statement on Monday.
Middleton was a partner at KPMG, where for 10 years he was head of its restructuring services practice in China and the Asia-Pacific region. Patrick Cowley is now leading KPMG China’s restructuring business, and has also stepped into the Asia-Pacific role, a KPMG spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
In this role, Middleton oversaw formal insolvency and regulatory appointments, out-of-court financial restructuring, crisis management appointments, and operational turnarounds for stressed and distressed assets.
Middleton worked on the liquidation of Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong, reaching an agreement on the complex intercompany claims between US debtors and Lehman Hong Kong.
He also worked on bankruptcies involving private-equity backed firms, such as Carlyle-backed China Fishery in Hong Kong and Ambow Education, which took money from Baring Asia. He also worked on winding up newspaper, Sing Pao Daily News.
Middleton has spent more than 20 years in Asia. He began his restructuring career in the UK in 1989.
“We are looking to selectively expand our restructuring teams in Hong Kong and Singapore in line with growth in the Asian debt capital markets,” said Joseph Swanson, senior managing director and co-head of Houlihan Lokey’s European financial restructuring group, who also oversees the firm’s financial restructuring business in Asia.
Middleton holds a B.A. in economics & politics from the University of Manchester. He is a fellow of INSOL International and a member of the International Insolvency Institute, as well as holds fellowship status of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
This article has been updated to add KPMG's response.
