The former European head of US-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin has launched a boutique specialising in the energy and power sector as start-ups continue to gain market share from larger rivals.

John Reynolds has launched Reynolds Partners along with Richard Moore, a fellow former banker at Houlihan Lokey and Mark Bygraves, who was previously head of M&A for the UK operations of E.On, Germany's biggest utilities company.