Finance Firms Expand Their Reach Across European Services

Houlihan Lokey named Adnan Choudhury a Managing Director in its Business Services Group on Nov. 2, 2026, adding another senior banker as the firm expands its European advisory operation. Based in London, Choudhury will cover professional services across Europe. The announcement puts mergers, financing and corporate advice front and centre: the firm says the hire will extend its sector expertise and client reach.

The deal-making apparatus

Choudhury brings more than 13 years of investment banking experience. He joined Houlihan Lokey from Perella Weinberg Partners, where he worked on the U.K. Advisory team and led services-sector coverage. His work there included advising corporate and financial sponsor clients on mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance and equity capital markets transactions across business, industrial and professional services.

Before that, Choudhury spent six years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the EMEA Business Services & Industrials Investment Banking team and the U.K. Investment Banking team. His career has taken him through institutions that arrange transactions and advise companies and financial sponsors. Houlihan Lokey's Business Services Group offers mergers and acquisitions advice, capital raising, restructuring, and financial and valuation advisory services.

The appointment follows Mark Ward's appointment as a Managing Director earlier in 2026. The firm describes Choudhury's hire as part of growth in its European Business Services Group. Scott Sergeant, Managing Director and Head of Business Services, Europe, said the professional services sector was undergoing “significant transformation,” driving demand for the firm's specialised strategic advice. He called Choudhury's connections and understanding of market dynamics an “outstanding addition” to the team.

Ranon Kent, Managing Director and Global Head of the Business Services Group, said Choudhury's transaction experience and network across the sponsor and corporate landscape would help expand the firm's professional services coverage in Europe. The language is institutional: footprint, coverage and client solutions.

AI services, consolidated

Separately, RWS said it had completed its acquisition of Acolad, strengthening its presence in Europe and North America and expanding the reach of its AI technology and platforms. The combined organization offers AI content solutions alongside interpreting, transcription and expertise in regulated industries. RWS said the deal would help enterprise customers address language and content challenges. Acolad customers will gain access to RWS's Cultural Intelligence Layer.

Acolad brings an enterprise customer base and expertise in localization, interpreting, transcription and data services. Its work with regulated industries, public institutions and medical devices complements RWS's capabilities, particularly in life sciences. RWS describes itself as a global AI solutions company serving enterprise AI needs; the acquisition brings those services and customer bases together.

RWS says its Cultural Intelligence Layer draws on more than 250,000 data specialists, cultural and language experts, and domain professionals, and is backed by more than 45 patents. The company says the technology is designed to make enterprise AI culturally fluent, contextually accurate and secure, and to reflect a brand's tone, context and customer values. Those are the company's claims about its platform.

Through its Generate, Transform and Protect segments, RWS provides intelligent content, enterprise knowledge, large-scale localization and intellectual-property protection. It says more than 80 of the world's top 100 brands trust it. Headquartered in the UK, RWS is listed on AIM.

Houlihan Lokey reported that it ranked No. 1 for global business services M&A transactions in 2025, with 92 deals, according to LSEG's 2025 M&A Advisory Rankings—All Global Business Services Transactions. The ranking excludes accounting firms and brokers. The figures chart a market where advisory firms compete to expand their reach, while RWS's acquisition joins two service providers in a broader AI and language-content operation. The announcements describe expansion from the companies' side of the boardroom; they don't explain how workers or customers assess the changes.