Mizuho to Acquire Premier M&A Advisory Firm Greenhill

• Purchase price $15 per share in cash
• Greenhill to serve as the M&A and restructuring advisory business of Mizuho
• Greenhill brand, global network, leadership and team to remain in place
• Acquisition accelerates Mizuho’s investment banking growth strategy, building on its leading capital markets and banking capabilities

TOKYO and NEW YORK, May 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (TSE: 8411 and NYSE: MFG) and Greenhill & Co., Inc. (NYSE: GHL) today announced a definitive agreement for Mizuho to acquire Greenhill in an all-cash transaction at $15 per share, reflecting an enterprise value of approximately $550 million, including assumed debt. Through this transaction, Mizuho will accelerate its investment banking growth strategy, building on Greenhill’s 27-year history of advising important clients on significant mergers & acquisitions, restructurings and capital raising transactions.

Following completion of the transaction, Greenhill will operate globally from its 15 locations around the world as the M&A and restructuring advisory business of Mizuho. That business will maintain the Greenhill brand, and the existing Greenhill leadership team will remain in place.

Greenhill Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Scott L. Bok will become Chairman of the M&A and restructuring advisory business. Current Greenhill Co-Presidents Kevin Costantino and David Wyles will become Co-Heads of the business. The Greenhill business will sit within Mizuho’s banking division, led by Michal Katz, Head of Banking in the Americas.

“Greenhill is a proven industry leader, and its team has led many of the largest and most complex transactions for clients globally, across a wide range of sectors,” said Jerry Rizzieri, President and CEO, Mizuho Securities USA. “Mizuho is committed to the expansion of its investment banking platform, and we are excited for the Greenhill team and brand to become a core pillar of this strategy.”

“We are pleased to be announcing a transaction that provides significant benefits to each of our stakeholders—clients, employees and stockholders. Our clients will continue to receive the same high quality advice from the same team, operating under the same brand, overseen by the same management. In addition, those clients will now benefit from access to the wide range of financing, capital markets and other products offered by Mizuho, one of the world’s leading banks. Our employees will see little change in their day-to-day work and will benefit from access to Mizuho’s vast global client base as well as its broad range of products,” said Scott Bok, Chairman & CEO, Greenhill. “Our firm was a pioneer in the concept of the publicly traded independent investment bank, and that format served us well for many years. Now, given the evolution of markets, we believe our clients and employees will benefit from our team becoming part of a larger, more diversified financial institution.”