Leerink Holdings is the Boston-based parent company of Leerink Partners. Leerink Partners is an investment bank focused on healthcare and life sciences.
A subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank, SVB Financial Group, is buying Leerink Holdings for $280 million in cash up front. It will then become SVB Leerink and operate as a subsidiary of SVB Financial Group.
Leerink Holdings is the Boston-based parent company of Leerink Partners. Leerink Partners is an investment bank focused on healthcare and life sciences.
SVB has indicated it will “provide a retention pool for employees of $60 million to be paid over five years.”
Leerink is well known within the biopharma industry, for its numerous venture capital financings in biotech startups and initial public offerings (IPOs). Boston Business Journal indicates that its equity research arm also covers the performance of major drug developers.
Leerink is among the top 10 underwriters for biotech IPOs and follow-ons this year. It was the lead underwriter for 13 deals in the first three quarters of 2018, accounting for a total of $1 billion raised.
Leerink’s leadership team will stay in place after the deal closes and Jeff Leerink, chief executive officer, will head the company and “will run the business in much the same capacity as it operates today.”
Jeff Leerink said in a statement, “This merger represents an important step forward for our firm as we continue to strive to be an indispensable company-building partner to our expanding global client base. SVB and Leerink share a strong client-focused culture, uniquely aligned on building long-term client relationships.”
Investments in biopharma that Leerink has been involved in include a recent $80 million Series B into Cambridge, Mass.-based Fulcrum Therapeutics and acting as the bookrunner for Proteostasis Therapeutics’ common stock offering, to cite just two. In the last two months, it has underwritten IPOs for Guardant Health and Principia Biopharma.
The company also has several highly prominent analysts, including Geoffrey Porges, Andrew Berens, and Seamus Fernandez.
“SVB and Leerink share a focus on providing financing and strategic advice at critical stages in a company’s growth and development,” said Greg Becker, chief executive officer of SVB Financial Group and Silicon Valley Bank, in a statement. “Together, we will deliver a complete capital markets offering—including debt, convertible debt and equity financing—and advisory services—including mergers and acquisition—for private and public healthcare and life science companies. Leerink is a best-in-class firm and we look forward to welcoming our Leerink colleagues to SVB.”
Leerink will continue to offer broad coverage across all sectors of healthcare, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostic and life science tools, healthcare services and digital health. The acquisition is expected to speed the growth and geographic reach of Leerink’s services, while helping SVB diversify and grow its revenue stream.
“SVB is the ideal partner to advance our franchise and more comprehensively serve our clients as they pursue their strategic, capital markets and investment objectives,” said James Boylan, president and head of Investment Banking at Leerink Partners, in a statement. “We look forward to collaborating with our partners at SVB as we share a common focus on growth and innovation-minded healthcare companies.”
Boylan will continue in the same role after the merger.
