Novistra Capital · New York

Peter X. Li

Managing Director  ·  U.S. Digital Transformation  ·  Global Hospitality

A bilingual investment banker with nearly two decades of experience, advising family- and founder-owned enterprises, corporates, and private equity sponsors on M&A, capital markets, and strategic growth across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Portrait of Peter X. Li, Managing Director at Novistra Capital
Mergers & Acquisitions
Capital Markets
Cross-Border
English & Mandarin
01 — Practice

Where he works

i

U.S. Digital Transformation

Leads the firm's practice — data, AI, and technology services businesses at the point where scale, capability, and strategic buyers meet.

ii

Global Hospitality

Heads the firm's hospitality coverage, built on a decade of lodging, gaming, and leisure transaction experience.

iii

Financial Institutions

Advisory across the financial institutions landscape, including capital structure and strategic alternatives.

iv

Founder & Family Enterprises

Sell-side and strategic counsel for owners for whom the transaction is a once-in-a-lifetime event, not a quarterly one.

02 — Record

Selected transactions

$7.7bn
Merger of Starwood Waypoint Homes and Colony American HomesEstablished single-family rental as a publicly traded institutional asset class in the United States
$2.8bn
Jaguar Land Rover – Chery joint ventureCross-border automotive joint venture, China
$2.4bn
Revel Atlantic City restructuring and Section 363 sale$2.4bn mega-resort guided through a complex court-supervised sale process
$150m
Aurelion Inc. (NASDAQ: AURE) financing$100m PIPE and $50m senior debt facility — establishing NASDAQ's first Tether Gold treasury
Sale
Two Roads Hospitality to Hyatt Hotels CorporationThe world's largest independent hotel operator prior to the acquisition
Formation & Sale
Aimbridge Hospitality — multiple transactions, including its sale to Advent InternationalEstablished Aimbridge as the world's largest hotel operator
Acquisition
Kokusai Kogyo — acquisition of Kyo-ya Hotels from CerberusCross-border hospitality real estate, Japan and the United States
03 — Current

Recent at Novistra

Feb 2026
PrivateBlok — strategic acquisition of its team and platform capabilities by the AI product development function of KPMG LLPNovistra acted as exclusive financial advisor to PrivateBlok and its founders, Sachin Manchanda and Dimple Sadhwani
Jan 2026
CTI Data — sale to OneSix, a portfolio company of Superstep CapitalCreating a differentiated Snowflake data and scaled AI platform
Capital Raise
Markable.ai — Series A+ capital raiseExclusive financial advisor to the U.S. and Asia-based AI company powering next-generation e-commerce; funding secured to scale the platform
04 — Distinction

Firsts and superlatives

Asset Class
Established single-family rental as a publicly traded institutional asset class in the United StatesThrough the $7.7bn Starwood Waypoint Homes / Colony American Homes merger
Market First
Established NASDAQ's first Tether Gold treasuryAurelion Inc. (NASDAQ: AURE) — $100m PIPE and $50m senior debt facility
No. 1 Globally
Built Aimbridge Hospitality into the world's largest hotel operatorAcross multiple transactions, through to its sale to Advent International
No. 1 Globally
Sold Two Roads Hospitality — then the world's largest independent hotel operator — to HyattFormed through the merger of Destination and Commune Hotels
Franchise
Helped build the leading hospitality franchise on Wall StreetAt Moelis & Company's Global Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging & Leisure group
05 — Voice

In his own words

“As organizations pivot from experimentation to production-ready AI systems, high-caliber engineering talent and agent-native architectures are becoming central to enterprise value creation. This transaction reflects the growing importance of agentic artificial intelligence and the premium placed on purpose-built AI infrastructure within global platforms.”

Peter X. Li, Managing Director, Novistra Capital
On the PrivateBlok transaction with KPMG LLP — Novistra Capital press release, February 2026

“CTI’s depth in data governance and regulated industries, combined with OneSix’s AI-first approach and Superstep’s growth capital, creates a compelling platform as enterprises accelerate their data and AI investments. We were pleased to help bring this partnership together.”

Peter X. Li, Managing Director, Novistra Capital
On the CTI Data sale to OneSix — Novistra Capital press release, January 2026
06 — Background

Before Novistra

Peter was a senior banker in Moelis & Company's Global Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging & Leisure group, where he helped build the leading hospitality franchise on Wall Street. He advised operating companies, real estate investors, and hospitality technology firms on landmark transactions, and is a trusted negotiator in high-stakes situations — debt restructurings, mergers, and joint ventures — who frequently advises boards on critical capital allocation and growth decisions.

He has also trained analysts at UBS, Credit Suisse, and Moelis in financial modeling and statement analysis. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and much of his work sits at the intersection of North American capital and Asian strategic interest.

07 — Education

Education & fellowships

  • MBA
    London Business School
  • B.A., Economics
    Claremont McKenna College
  • Fellow
    Henry Kravis Leadership Fellow
  • Fellow
    Robert Day Financial Economics Institute
08 — Sources

On the record

Every statement on this page is drawn from the public record. Quotations are reproduced verbatim from the releases cited below.