M&A Advisor in Los Angeles: 2026 LMM Sell-Side Guide
Updated Q3 2026.
Hiring an M&A advisor in Los Angeles is a different exercise than hiring one in Dallas, Miami, or New York. The metro is a global consumer, media, entertainment, aerospace, and logistics hub, and its lower-middle-market (LMM) sell-side market moves at a scale that touches the top five US metros for disclosed transactions. This guide is written for the founder of a $2M-$50M EBITDA business in Greater Los Angeles who has decided that the next 12-24 months are the right window to sell, and who wants a shortlist of local investment banks, a read on 2026 fees and multiples, and the metro-specific context that determines who actually shows up as a buyer.
For the wider state view, see our parent guide on selecting an M&A advisor in California, which covers Bay Area, San Diego, Sacramento, and Inland Empire conditions alongside Los Angeles. This page zooms into the Los Angeles metro specifically: Century City, downtown, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, the San Fernando Valley, and the surrounding LMM sell-side community.
Key takeaways
- Los Angeles is a top-five US metro for LMM deal count, with 500-700 disclosed sell-side transactions per year and a deep bench of both boutique and bulge-bracket advisors headquartered locally.
- Century City and Beverly Hills concentrate the M&A advisory market, with Houlihan Lokey, Moelis & Company, Intrepid Investment Bankers, and Latham & Watkins all within roughly a mile of each other.
- Consumer, media, and entertainment franchises are trading at 8x-12x EBITDA in 2025-2026 processes, while aerospace and defense suppliers cluster at 7x-10x.
- Success fees for LMM Los Angeles engagements land at 3%-8% depending on transaction size and structure, in line with national Lehman-style benchmarks but with monthly retainers on the higher end for consumer and media deals.
- Los Angeles is a genuine private equity headquarters city. Ares Management, Oaktree Capital, Leonard Green & Partners, Platinum Equity, Marlin Equity Partners, Levine Leichtman, and Freeman Spogli all run out of Los Angeles or the immediate west-side.
What does an M&A advisor in Los Angeles actually do?
An M&A advisor in Los Angeles runs a full sell-side process for a lower-middle-market business owner: they build the pitch materials, quarterback quality of earnings, identify and contact 50-250 potential buyers (strategics, PE platforms, family offices), manage due diligence, negotiate the LOI and definitive agreement, and coordinate legal, tax, and accounting counsel through close. The Los Angeles wrinkle is heavy PE and family-office buyer coverage, plus consumer, media, and aerospace vertical fluency.
Practically, the local advisor is the general contractor of your transaction. On a $25M EBITDA consumer-products deal in the Los Angeles market, that means preparing a 40-60 page confidential information memorandum, assembling a management presentation, running a two-round auction (indications of interest, then confirmatory bids), and shepherding you through the 60-120 day working session that follows an accepted LOI. Because Los Angeles is a PE headquarters city, a competent local banker typically has direct partner-level relationships at Ares, Oaktree, Leonard Green, Platinum, Marlin, Levine Leichtman, and Freeman Spogli, plus warm coverage at the mid-market PE shops in San Francisco, New York, and Chicago.
A Los Angeles advisor is also expected to know the buyer archetypes for your specific vertical. Consumer and DTC brands in Los Angeles typically attract a mix of West Coast consumer-focused PE (Freeman Spogli, TSG, Encore), strategic acquirers in beauty and CPG, and family offices. Aerospace suppliers around Torrance, Chatsworth, and Long Beach see a very different pool: strategics such as TransDigm, Heico, and Precision Castparts, plus aerospace-focused PE funds. The advisor’s job is knowing which of those pools is paying up in the current cycle.
Which M&A advisors serve Los Angeles LMM sellers?
Los Angeles LMM sellers have direct local access to Houlihan Lokey (Century City), Moelis & Company (LA and NYC co-HQ), and Intrepid Investment Bankers (Century City). Below that global tier sit LMM specialists CriticalPoint Partners, Greif & Co, Salem Partners (media and entertainment), and Imperial Capital (distressed and LMM). The right pick depends on your EBITDA size, sector, and whether you need equity co-invest.
Three firms anchor the local shortlist for most Los Angeles LMM sell-side engagements:
- Houlihan Lokey is Century City headquartered and consistently the highest-volume mid-market M&A advisor in the world by completed transactions. The firm has executed 21 bolt-on acquisitions of its own since going public, and on June 27 2026 announced its acquisition of Intrepid Financial Partners (a Houston-based energy boutique that is not the same firm as the Los Angeles Intrepid Investment Bankers). For Los Angeles sellers at $15M-$150M EBITDA, Houlihan is the default first call.
- Moelis & Company operates with a Los Angeles and New York co-headquarter model. Moelis is a natural fit for the upper end of the LMM ($40M+ EBITDA) and for cross-border and sponsor-to-sponsor transactions. Founder Ken Moelis built the firm’s Los Angeles presence around global M&A and restructuring.
- Intrepid Investment Bankers is a Century City LMM sell-side specialist covering consumer, industrials, and business services. Intrepid is often the right fit for $5M-$30M EBITDA founder-led Los Angeles businesses that want a dedicated boutique rather than a division of a global platform. It is a separate firm from the Houston-based Intrepid Financial Partners being acquired by Houlihan.
Below the global tier sit the LMM-only boutiques. CriticalPoint Partners is a Los Angeles generalist LMM advisor. Greif & Co is a Los Angeles sell-side boutique with a long track record of representing founder-led companies. Salem Partners is the go-to for media and entertainment LMM transactions. Imperial Capital covers LMM and distressed situations, which is meaningful given Los Angeles is a large distressed and special situations market.
For further national context and how the Los Angeles bench compares to statewide options, see the California M&A advisor overview.
How do Los Angeles fees compare to national LMM benchmarks?
Los Angeles LMM M&A fees track national benchmarks with modest premiums for consumer and media mandates. Expect a monthly retainer of $10K-$25K creditable against success, a success fee of 3%-8% depending on transaction value, and reasonable expense pass-throughs. Boutique success fees tend to sit at the higher end of the Lehman-style ladder; global platforms often quote lower percentages but with higher minimums.
The typical fee structure a Los Angeles LMM seller will see in a 2026 engagement letter has three components:
| Fee component | Los Angeles LMM range (2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | $10,000 – $25,000 | Typically creditable against the success fee at close |
| Success fee (deals $10M-$25M) | 4% – 8% of transaction value | Boutiques quote higher; global platforms lower but with $500K-$1M minimums |
| Success fee (deals $25M-$100M) | 1.5% – 4% of transaction value | Modified Lehman or double-Lehman common |
| Success fee (deals $100M+) | 0.75% – 2% of transaction value | Fee minimums almost always apply |
| Expenses | Actual, capped or uncapped | Data room, travel, printing; verify cap in engagement letter |
| Tail period | 12 – 24 months post-termination | Buyer must be on the introduced list |
The two mechanics that most often get negotiated in Los Angeles engagement letters are the retainer credit (make sure 100% of monthly retainers are creditable, not just 50%) and the success fee escalator on transaction value above a threshold. A typical Los Angeles LMM escalator might be 4% on the first $25M, 5% on the next $25M, and 6% on anything above $50M. This structure aligns the advisor with pushing for the highest possible outcome.
National LMM fee context from Axial, PitchBook, and the Middle Market Growth reporting from the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) confirms these ranges are consistent with LMM sell-side benchmarks in the West Coast and Northeast metros.
What EBITDA multiples are Los Angeles businesses selling for in 2026?
Los Angeles LMM transactions in 2025-2026 are pricing in a wide range depending on vertical: consumer and media franchises are trading 8x-12x EBITDA, aerospace and defense suppliers 7x-10x, healthcare services 8x-11x, and business services generally 6x-9x. Multiples remain compressed from 2021 peaks but have stabilized above 2023 troughs, per GF Data and PitchBook LMM reporting.
Multiples in the Los Angeles market are best understood by vertical and by buyer type. The 2026 comps that a local advisor will reference in a management presentation are broadly:
| Vertical | 2026 LA EBITDA multiple range | Dominant buyer type |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer products and DTC | 8x – 12x | Consumer-focused PE, strategic CPG acquirers |
| Media and entertainment | 8x – 12x | Strategics, media-focused PE, family offices |
| Aerospace and defense suppliers | 7x – 10x | Strategics (TransDigm, Heico), aerospace PE |
| Healthcare services | 8x – 11x | Healthcare PE platforms, strategic roll-ups |
| Business services | 6x – 9x | Generalist PE, family offices |
| Logistics and 3PL (Long Beach) | 6x – 9x | Logistics PE, strategic acquirers |
| Real estate services | 5x – 8x | Real estate services PE, strategics |
The consumer and media premium is real. Los Angeles is arguably the most concentrated consumer-brand market in the world outside of New York, and both the strategic acquirer pool and the sponsor pool are willing to pay double-digit multiples for founder-led brands with defensible growth and clean quality of earnings. The aerospace band reflects the reality that Southern California is home to a dense cluster of Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers to Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, and strategics such as TransDigm and Heico are aggressive on well-run suppliers with sole-source contracts.
Which PE firms have offices in Los Angeles?
Los Angeles is a major private equity headquarters city. Ares Management, Oaktree Capital, Leonard Green & Partners, Platinum Equity (Beverly Hills), Marlin Equity Partners (Hermosa Beach), Levine Leichtman (Beverly Hills), and Freeman Spogli are all Los Angeles-based. This concentration means Los Angeles founders often meet direct buyers rather than New York or Chicago intermediated buyers.
The Los Angeles private equity ecosystem is one of the deepest in the United States. The list of platform PE firms with primary Los Angeles offices includes:
- Ares Management – global alternative asset manager headquartered in Los Angeles; private equity, credit, real estate.
- Oaktree Capital – Los Angeles-based, credit and special situations leader; owned by Brookfield.
- Leonard Green & Partners – Los Angeles-based consumer, healthcare, and business services PE.
- Platinum Equity – Beverly Hills-based, founded by Tom Gores; industrials, distribution, technology.
- Marlin Equity Partners – Hermosa Beach-based, technology and industrials.
- Levine Leichtman Capital Partners – Beverly Hills-based, structured equity, LMM focus.
- Freeman Spogli & Co – Los Angeles-based, consumer and distribution PE.
For a Los Angeles LMM founder, this proximity has three practical effects. First, meetings are easier to schedule and often more substantive when the buyer is a 15-minute drive rather than a flight away. Second, local PE firms know the local labor market, local regulatory environment (California is not a light-touch state), and local talent bench, which shortens diligence on soft factors. Third, several of these firms have programmatic LMM strategies that specifically target the $5M-$50M EBITDA range that dominates Los Angeles founder-led exits.
What are the dominant Los Angeles M&A verticals in 2026?
The dominant Los Angeles M&A verticals in 2026 are media and entertainment, aerospace and defense, consumer products, healthcare services, real estate services, and logistics driven by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Consumer and media command the highest multiples; aerospace has the deepest strategic buyer pool; logistics benefits from port throughput and 3PL demand.
Six verticals produce the majority of Los Angeles LMM sell-side deal flow in any given year:
- Media and entertainment: production companies, unscripted content studios, post-production, talent management, and music rights. Salem Partners specializes here, and Miller Kaplan provides accounting and QoE support with deep industry-specific expertise.
- Aerospace and defense: Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers concentrated in Torrance, Chatsworth, Long Beach, and the Antelope Valley. Strategics dominate the buyer pool.
- Consumer products and DTC: beauty, apparel, food and beverage, and lifestyle brands. West Coast PE and strategic CPG buyers pay premium multiples.
- Healthcare services: multi-site medical groups, dental service organizations (DSOs), behavioral health, and med spa platforms. See our healthcare M&A advisor coverage.
- Real estate services: property management, brokerage, title, and construction services.
- Logistics and 3PL: driven by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are the two largest container ports in the United States. Strategic and PE acquirers hunt here for scale.
Founders in industrial verticals with LA operations should also review our industrial M&A advisor guide, and business services owners should reference the business services M&A advisor overview.
Which local law firms and accounting practices handle Los Angeles sell-side deals?
Los Angeles sell-side deals are typically counseled by Latham & Watkins (Century City HQ), Gibson Dunn, O’Melveny & Myers, Munger Tolles & Olson, and Paul Hastings on the legal side. Accounting and QoE bench includes Miller Kaplan (media and entertainment), Green Hasson Janks (now Marcum) for LMM QoE, and the Big Four’s substantial Los Angeles offices.
The Los Angeles legal M&A bench is among the deepest in the world. The firms most active in LMM and middle-market sell-side transactions include:
| Firm | Los Angeles presence | Typical role |
|---|---|---|
| Latham & Watkins | Century City headquarters | Global M&A leader; upper LMM and middle market |
| Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | Los Angeles headquarters | Full-service M&A, corporate, tax |
| O’Melveny & Myers | Los Angeles headquarters | M&A, private equity, capital markets |
| Munger, Tolles & Olson | Los Angeles headquarters | M&A, complex commercial |
| Paul Hastings | Los Angeles headquarters | M&A, private equity, finance |
For an LMM founder-led sale at $10M-$50M EBITDA, most Los Angeles deals cluster around Latham, Gibson Dunn, O’Melveny, or Paul Hastings for buyer-side representation, and often a smaller boutique or the same firms for seller-side depending on relationships. Expect legal fees of $300K-$1M for a straightforward LMM sale, plus separate tax counsel if there is meaningful pre-transaction estate planning.
On the accounting side, Miller Kaplan (Century City) is the specialist for media and entertainment M&A, running audit, tax, and QoE for many of the studio and content deals that move through Los Angeles. Green Hasson Janks, now merged into Marcum, is a long-standing LMM QoE provider. The Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG) all maintain major Los Angeles offices and are typical for transactions above $50M in enterprise value.
How does selling in Los Angeles differ from selling elsewhere in California?
Selling in Los Angeles differs from selling in the Bay Area or San Diego in three ways: buyer mix (LA has more consumer, media, and family-office capital versus the Bay Area’s tech and venture concentration), vertical mix (LA is aerospace, media, consumer, logistics; the Bay Area is software, life sciences), and process cadence (LA processes typically run 5-7 months versus 6-9 months in more diligence-intensive tech deals).
A Los Angeles founder considering whether to hire a local advisor versus a Bay Area or San Diego advisor should weigh several factors. The Bay Area, covered further in our San Francisco M&A advisor guide, is dominated by software, SaaS, life sciences, and venture-backed exits. San Diego, treated in our San Diego M&A advisor guide, blends life sciences, defense, and consumer.
Los Angeles’s differentiator is the sheer density of alternative capital: family offices concentrated in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Malibu; PE headquarters clustered in Century City, Beverly Hills, and Hermosa Beach; and a strategic acquirer base spanning consumer, media, aerospace, and logistics. That density means competitive bid dynamics tend to arrive earlier in Los Angeles processes than in less densely covered metros, which shifts use toward the seller. It also means that a local Los Angeles advisor with genuine partner-level PE and family-office relationships materially outperforms an out-of-market advisor on deals below $50M enterprise value.
California-specific factors apply statewide and are covered in more depth on the parent California M&A advisor guide: no-poach and non-compete enforceability, Prop 65, California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA and CPRA), and state-level income tax at 13.3% on gains for high earners. In Los Angeles specifically, add the LA City business tax, the Measure ULA transfer tax on high-value real estate sales, and the LA County local employment regulations to your pre-transaction planning checklist.
What questions should you ask a Los Angeles M&A advisor?
Ask any Los Angeles M&A advisor about vertical experience (specific closed LA deals in your sector in the last 24 months), buyer coverage depth (partner-level relationships at Ares, Oaktree, Leonard Green, Platinum, Marlin, Levine Leichtman, Freeman Spogli), fee structure (retainer credit, escalator, tail), team continuity (who staffs the deal day-to-day), and references from three founder-clients whose deals closed in the last 18 months.
A short checklist for the first meeting:
- Show me three sell-side transactions you closed in Los Angeles in the last 24 months in my sector. Who were the buyers?
- Which partners at Ares, Oaktree, Leonard Green, Platinum, Marlin, Levine Leichtman, and Freeman Spogli do you have direct dialogue with today?
- What is your fee structure? Is the retainer 100% creditable? What is the escalator above the base success fee percentage?
- Who runs my deal day-to-day? Is it the partner I am meeting, or a VP or associate?
- How many active mandates does your team have right now, and how many can the deal team properly serve?
- Can I speak to three founder-clients whose deals closed in the last 12-18 months?
- What is your view on 2026 multiples for my specific sub-vertical, and what is the evidence?
- What does your QoE process look like, and which Los Angeles QoE providers do you typically pair with?
At CT Acquisitions, we tell every Los Angeles founder we speak with that the two most predictive variables in a successful LMM sell-side outcome are (1) whether the advisor has genuine partner-level dialogue with the specific buyers who will actually bid, and (2) whether the founder is willing to run a real two-round process rather than a bilateral negotiation. Los Angeles has enough buyer density that founders leave meaningful multiple points on the table when they skip competitive tension.
Related CT Acquisitions guides
These companion guides cover the sell-side process end to end. Read alongside this page for the full picture on fees, timelines, and buyer archetypes.
- M&A Advisory Pillar Guide (2026)
- Buy-Side M&A Advisory
- Lower Middle Market M&A Advisor
- Business Appraisal Cost 2026
- Investment Bank Fees LMM 2026
- Quality of Earnings (QoE) Guide
- M&A Advisor for HVAC Business
- M&A Advisor for Plumbing Business
- M&A Advisor for Orthopedic Practice
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Los Angeles LMM sell-side process take?
A typical Los Angeles LMM sell-side process runs 5-7 months from engagement letter to close: 4-6 weeks of preparation and QoE, 4-6 weeks of buyer outreach and management meetings, 4-6 weeks between LOI and signed purchase agreement, and 2-4 weeks to close. Consumer and media processes with heavy buyer interest can compress; aerospace with regulatory review can extend.
Do Los Angeles M&A advisors work with sellers below $2M EBITDA?
Most Century City and Beverly Hills boutiques focus at $3M-$5M EBITDA minimum. Below that threshold, business brokers rather than investment banks are the typical fit. The IBBA and the M&A Source both maintain LA-area member directories for sub-$3M EBITDA sales.
Is a retainer refundable if a Los Angeles deal does not close?
Monthly retainers are almost never refundable. What matters is whether the retainer is 100% creditable against the success fee at close. Most Los Angeles boutiques will credit fully; global platforms sometimes cap the credit. Negotiate this in the engagement letter.
Should I hire a Los Angeles advisor if my company is headquartered outside California?
Only if your buyer pool is heavily Los Angeles-based. For consumer and media deals with a Los Angeles buyer pool, yes. For deals with a national or East Coast buyer base and no LA nexus, hire the advisor closest to where the buyers actually are.
What is a fairness opinion and does my Los Angeles deal need one?
A fairness opinion is a written statement from an independent advisor confirming the transaction consideration is fair from a financial point of view. Public-company sellers almost always require one. Private LMM sellers usually do not, unless the deal involves shareholder disputes, minority buyouts, or trustee-fiduciary situations. Houlihan Lokey is the global leader in fairness opinions.
How do Los Angeles buyers view seller financing and rollover equity?
Los Angeles PE buyers routinely require 10%-25% rollover equity from the founder, especially in consumer and healthcare deals. Seller notes are less common in competitive LA processes but are used to bridge valuation gaps. Expect rollover to be a live topic in every serious LOI.
What role does the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) play in a Los Angeles M&A deal?
The DFPI regulates certain California-based financial services businesses, and its review can extend timing for deals involving licensed lenders, escrow companies, and money transmitters. For most Los Angeles LMM deals in non-financial verticals, DFPI review is not a factor.
Should I get a quality of earnings report before hiring a Los Angeles advisor?
Yes, in most cases. A sell-side QoE from Miller Kaplan, Marcum (formerly Green Hasson Janks), or a Big Four Los Angeles team, prepared before you go to market, materially shortens buy-side diligence and reduces retrade risk. Budget $50K-$150K for LMM QoE.