Briefs: Houlihan Lokey opens in Australia, A$92 million of infrastructure to go on the block, forex

US investment bank Houlihan Lokey has entered the Australian market, with operations focused initially on corporate finance and restructuring work. The Sydney office will be led by Nicholas Rowe, Oscar Ludwigson and David Tozer, who all worked together at CIMB Securities. Houlihan Lokey's co-president, Scott Adelson, said in a statement that the company would eventually offer its full suite of products and services, including strategic counselling, financial advisory, valuations, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. The company operates out of 21 offices around the world.
Thirty potential infrastructure assets listed as sale prospects by Infrastructure Australia may yield A$92 billion for state and federal governments, Fitch Ratings estimated. While private financiers would be needed for any sales, Fitch argued in an investor briefing this week that, while "the Australian Federal Government is running a budget deficit at this moment, it's surely not as high as many other developed economies, so there is perceived to be some room to spend on the infrastructure sector."
Average daily turnover in all foreign exchange instruments in the Australian market was US$150.3 billion in October 2014, a decline of 14 per cent from April 2014, and a decline of 15 per cent over the year. The Australian Foreign Exchange Committee produced the data in its semi-annual report on foreign exchange turnover.