NEW YORK, Sept 16, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The M&A Advisor today announced the recipients of the industry's inaugural Global M&A Advisor Awards. Award recipients from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America were selected by an independent panel of judges representing a cross-section of the M&A industry.

Investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey led the competition, winning four awards, including Investment Banking Firm of the Year (Americas region), and Corporate/Strategic Acquisition of the Year (Americas region - Abebooks acquired by Amazon.com). The firm's deal: Peak International Limited acquired by S&G Company won in two categories: Deal of the Year and Information Technology Deal of the Year (Asia, Middle-East, Africa and Oceania region).

Blackstone and Yes Bank each received three awards, including Deal of the Year, Dealmaker of the Year and U.S. Cross-Border Deal of the Year (all Americas region) for Blackstone, and Corporate/Strategic Acquisition of the Year, Green/Environmental Deal of the Year and Media, Entertainment or Telecom Deal of the Year (all Asia, Middle-East, Africa and Oceania region) for Yes Bank.

"With deal sizes up to $3.3 billion, each award recipient has excelled in their field and is truly deserving of the honor," said Roger Aguinaldo, CEO of The M&A Advisor. "All recipients should be proud of their award, especially in these tough economic times. Congratulations to all of these industry leaders."

Global Award Finalists were divided into three regional groupings:
    --  Americas
    --  Europe
    --  Asia, Middle-East, Africa and Oceania

Transactions had to close between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009 and be valued at US $10 million. There was no maximum limit on deal size.

The judges invited to jury this round of awards from The M&A Advisor are experienced industry professionals, including financial professionals, academics, consultants and service providers. Judges are volunteers and are not past or present employees of, or consultants to, The M&A Advisor. Also, they had no financial or business affiliation with the organization.

Judging is based on several criteria, including quantitative factors such as transaction value, impact on shareholder/company value and market share. Qualitative considerations include impact of transaction on the market/industry, ingenuity in structuring and/or negotiations, diligence and perseverance in consummating the deal and other unique attributes.

To view the list of winners for the Global M&A Advisor Awards, please go to www.maadvisor.com.

THE M&A ADVISOR

Since 1998, The M&A Advisor has been the preeminent organization facilitating connections and recognizing achievement in the top performers of the M&A, turnaround and financing industries through its leading events and awards galas, M&A Alerts newsletter and online community. For more information, go to www.maadvisor.com.