On June 23, a media advisory firm widely known as the home of veteran media brokers Bill Fanning and Elliot Evers (pictured) quietly announced its sale to a global investment bank. On Friday, that transaction was completed.
As such, MVP Capital — formerly Media Venture Partners — is no more.
The purchase of MVP Capital “adds substantially” to the coverage of the telecommunications sector by Houlihan Lokey, a New York-based entity.
Founded in 1987, MVP serves clients across the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sector, providing mergers and acquisitions advisory, capital formation, and other advisory services.
MVP’s sectors of focus very much include radio and television broadcasting. In recent years this has seen Evers become the key pointperson behind The Mainstay Trust LLC, formed in March 2018 to house four stations divested by Cumulus Media in order to complete its Chapter 11 reorganization plan.
Additionally, Evers in August 2019 held 25.6% equity interest in Deer Creek Broadcasting, led by John M. Duff Jr. and R.T. Goodrich.
More recently, Evers was set to take control of Cox Media Group’s WPYO-FM in the Orlando market and WSUN-FM “97X” in the Tampa-St. Petersburg, as they had been slated for transfer into a trust in order to receive regulatory approval for its majority investment by Apollo Global Management. This entity is called “CXR Radio LLC.” Sales and management of the stations remains under Cox Media Group control.
With Houlihan Lokey’s acquisition of MVP Capital, MVP’s investment banking team has been integrated into Houlihan Lokey’s global TMT Group. This sees MVP Managing Partner Jason Hill become a co-head alongside Rob Louv and Roy Kabla. MVP CEO Greg Widroe has assumed a senior role in the TMT Group, focusing in part on strategic initiatives.
The acquisition adds 25 financial professionals to Houlihan Lokey’s TMT Group, including MVP’s seven managing directors, bringing the global TMT team to more than 60 financial professionals. And, it further cements Houlihan Lokey’s advisory status for all U.S. TMT sector deals valued under $1 billion since 2014: it ranks No. 1 on an annual league table according to Thomson Reuters successor Refinitiv.
At Houlihan Lokey, Evers will serve as Senior Advisor; Fanning takes the title of Managing Director.
Scott Adelson, Houlihan Lokey’s Co-President and Co-Head of Corporate Finance, said, “Without question, MVP’s extensive sector knowledge and execution expertise has driven its success as an exceptional advisory firm. However, it is clear to us that this success is also maintained and reinforced by many of the cultural characteristics we strive to embody at Houlihan Lokey, foremost among them our steadfast dedication to our clients. In all respects, they are a perfect fit with our corporate culture, and we are confident that the MVP team will contribute meaningfully to the growth of the TMT Group and to our clients’ success, as well.”
Houlihan Lokey’s lone mention in RBR+TVBR in the last four years involves its role in the sale of digital media publisher Gawker Media to Univision, which it acquired in August 2016 but later spun in 2019 to refocus its efforts on the U.S. Hispanic market.
