Founded by billionaire Ken Moelis, investment bank Moelis & Co has launched a division focused on global deals involving cryptocurrency startups. Bloomberg writes about it.
John Momtazi, co-founder and head of media investment banking at the New York-based institution, became its head. Lou Kerner, a partner at CryptoOracle venture capital firm, has been appointed senior advisor.
Moelis & Co is betting that companies will continue to grow and close bigger deals. According to Momtazi, this was the case in the post-dot-com crash period.
“We like the timing. Any breakthrough technology has volatility. The size of M&A transactions will be highly correlated with the expansion of market capitalization, ” he explained.
Moelis & Co currently represents Voyager Digital in bankruptcy proceedings. The company’s lawyers rejected a recent FTX offer addressed to crypto broker clients. Previously, the investment bank worked with Ripple Labs and CipherTrace.
The company has invested in the industry through Blockchain Capital, Blockchain Co-investors, and Pantera Capital funds, while Moelis himself participated in a Paxos funding round. According to Momtazi, direct investments are not ruled out in the future.
