2 Wall Street boutiques just landed a $45 million payday

pulse

February 13, 2017 4:36 PM

Moelis is expected to rake in $15 million to $20 million for their advice to Allergan, while Guggenheim could make $20 million to $25 million.

Moelis & Company founder Ken Moelis.

Allergan, the hyper-acquisitive, Dublin-headquartered maker of Botox, is buying the fat-reduction biopharmaceutical Zeltiq for about $2.5 billion — and the only two financial advisers on the deal are boutique shops.

Moelis & Company advised Allergan on the buy side, while Guggenheim Securities advised Zeltiq on the sell side.

Moelis is expected to rake in $15 million to $20 million for its advice to Allergan, according to the consultant Freeman & Co. Guggenheim could make $20 million to $25 million.

Moelis has about 650 employees in 17 offices worldwide. It was founded by the former UBS banker Ken Moelis and recently landed an advisory role on the mammoth Saudi Aramco initial public offering, which is expected to be the world's largest.

Guggenheim has 2,500 employees in 20 cities. It advised Verizon on its $130 billion deal for Vodafone, which closed in 2014. More recently, Guggenheim advised Allergan on its $2.9 billion deal for LifeCell in December and Verizon on the $3.6 billion sale of 24 data centers to Equinix.

Both Moelis and Guggenheim advised Pfizer on its attempted (and botched) merger with Allergan.

Boutique banks have had a strong start to the year.

Last week, the maker of Durex condoms announced it was buying a baby-formula company for $17 billion, and the boutique firm Robey Warshaw landed a joint-lead advisory role on the buy side of that deal. It could split up to $50 million in fees for that deal with its co-adviser Bank of America Merrill Lynch, according to Freeman & Co.

In January, Evercore and Lazard landed roles on Takeda's $5.2 billion deal for Ariad Pharmaceuticals. And the boutique firm BDT, led by the former Goldman Sachs partner Byron Trott, advised Mars on its $9.1 billion deal for VCA Inc.

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