Mizuho Financial Group Inc. has its eye on the U.S. middle market for expansion and will continue to evaluate acquisitions following a pair of high-profile deals in the past two years.

“Our goal in the U.S. market is to be in the top 10,” said Michal Katz, head of the investment and corporate banking unit at Mizuho Americas LLC. “We have a five-year strategic roadmap, which is thoughtful, but fairly aggressive. We continue to look to where there is a gap in the market and evaluate opportunities to stay current, relevant and address the needs of our clients.”

Katz’s comments come after the company on May 22 announced the acquisition of New York-based boutique investment bank Greenhill & Co. (GHC) for about $550 million. Last year, it added Dallas-based Capstone Partners.

“In our financial sponsor coverage effort, we tend to focus on the larger household name private equity firms, the likes of KKR, Blackstone, Apollo, Brookfield, etc., and Greenhill has leaned towards the mid-market financial sponsors,” Katz said. “Greenhill has a reputation for working on some of the largest and most complex transactions and it complements our business.”

With the Greenhill transaction, Mizuho has brought about 370 bankers and over 80 managing directors into the fold.

The deal combined Mizuho, No. 33 on The Deal’s first-quarter M&A league tables, with Greenhill, which ranked No. 38 in M&A.

Capstone, too, has a penchant for middle market deals. The independent, middle market placement agent is focused on fundraising and advisory services to private equity, credit, real assets and infrastructure investment firms, enhancing its pipeline for lending, acquisition financing, capital markets and M&A advisory business.

Capstone added over 200 employees to the Mizuho U.S. operation.

With Capstone’s focus mainly on primary fundraising and Greenhill’s expertise in secondaries and in continuation vehicles, both businesses complement Mizuho’s offerings and capabilities in the lending capital markets, M&A and the advisory space, Katz said.

Editor’s note: The original, full version of this article was published May 30, 2023, on The Deal’s premium subscription website. For access, log in to TheDeal.com or use the form below to request a free trial.