Bio

Mr. Novak is a Managing Director and the Global Head of Houlihan Lokey’s Consumer, Food & Retail Group. He leads a team of more than 65 professionals located throughout the world. Mr. Novak serves on the firm’s Management Committee. Since joining Houlihan Lokey in 1996, he has led more than 200 corporate finance engagements involving M&A, debt financings, and corporate restructurings. He has handled assignments for food, consumer products, retail, entertainment, and manufacturing companies. Mr. Novak’s transaction experience involves leading some of the industry’s most well-known transactions across all sectors within consumer, with a particular focus in Food & Beverage. Within Food & Beverage, he has led transactions in emerging better-for-you brands, protein, snacks, plant-based products, and nutritional products. He is also a frequent speaker and participant at industry events. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Novak spent five years in international investment banking, serving highly leveraged middle-market and Fortune 500 multinational corporate clients, primarily in consumer-branded goods. Mr. Novak also spent two years in the investment banking department at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he specialized in M&A and debt and equity underwriting. Mr. Novak holds a B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.