Lily Qian Joins as Managing Director and Head of Coverage for Southeast Asia; Ravi Shankar Joins as Managing Director and Head of Coverage for India

SINGAPORE, MUMBAI and NEW YORK – February 19, 2014 – Avista Advisory Group (Avista), the Pan-Asian advisory firm headquartered in Singapore, and Houlihan Lokey, the international investment bank which holds a minority stake in Avista, today announced two senior hires to significantly strengthen Avista’s investment banking coverage capabilities in the region. Lily Qian has joined Avista as a Managing Director and Head of Coverage for Southeast Asia, while Ravi Shankar has joined as a Managing Director and Head of Coverage for India. Ms. Qian is based in Singapore and Mr. Shankar is based in Mumbai.

Mr. Shankar joins from UBS, where he was most recently a Managing Director working on a range of domestic and cross-border corporate finance assignments. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the firm’s investment banking platform in India over the past decade, growing it from a three-member team to a top-three M&A house in India. Mr. Shankar has substantial experience assisting large Indian and global firms on their global expansion plans, some of which have resulted in landmark transactions. Prior to UBS, Mr. Shankar began his career at DSP Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America Merrill Lynch) in Mumbai.

Prior to joining Avista, Ms. Qian spent more than seven years with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) in Singapore, where she was most recently an Executive Director and Head of Corporate Advisory China. Ms. Qian built that firm’s corporate finance China team and has originated and closed several noteworthy cross-border M&A and structured debt transactions. Prior to ANZ, Ms. Qian was a Director in Deutsche Bank’s Structured Finance group in Singapore. She has also held senior roles at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, J.P. Morgan Chase, and China Construction Bank.

“With more than 20 years of investment banking experience across the Asia-Pacific region, and having worked on nearly every type of advisory mandate including M&A, corporate finance, and structured debt transactions, Lily is a fantastic addition to our team,” said Rajiv Kochhar, CEO of Avista. “Similarly, Ravi has a proven track record of both successful transactions and the effective build-out of a top-three M&A franchise in India. We’re delighted that they have joined Avista,” he continued.

“We are fortunate to have partnered with Avista as a way to expand Houlihan Lokey’s geographical footprint and offer our products and services to an entirely new client base via an established, experienced, and locally based investment bank,” said Scott Adelson, Co-President of Houlihan Lokey. “These appointments substantially deepen the already-talented bench at Avista, and we’re confident that our collective clients will derive significant benefits from Lily’s and Ravi’s expertise.”

Ms. Qian holds a B.A. in Economics from Shanghai University of Finance & Economics and an MBA from the Nanyang Technology University in Singapore. Mr. Shankar holds a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.

Avista Advisory Group is a Pan-Asian investment banking advisory firm, with operations in India and Singapore, focusing on the mid-market sector. Avista’s key product expertise is across M&A, financing, and restructuring advisory, which is well supported by an experienced team with industry expertise across key sectors of Industrials, Consumer, TMT, Real Estate, Energy & Utilities, and Infrastructure. The simple strategy for growth at Avista has been to service its high growth, mid-market clientele through its integrated platform of product, industry expertise, and regional coverage across the corporate finance spectrum.