Leerink Partners LLC is an American independent

investment bank Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

providing healthcare companies and investors with financial services including M&A advisory, equity and debt capital markets, proprietary research, and sales and trading capabilities. The firm was founded in 1995 by Jeffrey A. Leerink, and is headquartered in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, with U.S. offices in New York City; San Francisco, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Nashville, Tennessee.

History

Leerink Partners was founded in 1995 as Leerink Swann LLC. The following year, the bank established MEDACorp expert network as a joint venture with Dr. Dan Dubin. It acted as a strategic knowledge resource at Leerink, using validation of new products and commercial viability in the assessment of company financials, and corporate due diligence in the medial field as part of a merger and acquisition advisory or capital raising. In 1999, '' Inc.'' named the bank as one of America's 500 fastest growing private companies. In 2009, the firm expanded its investment banking footprint when 25 senior healthcare bankers joined the firm from Merrill Lynch. A 2010 probe into expert network focused on potential for conflict of interest and insider dealings through

expert network Expert networks refer to a type of business that connects companies with expert resources or subject-matter experts, such as academics, C-levels, founders, and high-level officials to provide valuable information, data, or assistance. Background ...

across the entire industry. The

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC) investigated a 2009 merger between Cougar Biotech and

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

in which Leerink advised Cougar. MedaTech client SAC Capital had been an investor in Cougar Biotech. The focus of the investigation was whether any information about the transaction flowed from Leerink via MedaTech to SAC. According to Leerink, the firm operated strict information barriers. Speculations about MedaTech's shut down as part of the investigation proved unfounded. In 2012, the SEC charged a former Leerink analyst for insider trading. The analyst had obtained confidential information about a merger transaction Leerink was working on and passed this information on to a friend to place trades on his behalf. The analyst gained around $600,000 from this investment and was later sentenced for insider trading. In 2014, Leerink Swann was rebranded as Leerink Partners LLC. Leerink Partners was acquired by

SVB Financial Group SVB Financial Group (SVB or SVBFG) is a financial services holding company headquartered in New York City. The company's main business unit was the commercial bank Silicon Valley Bank, until the bank failed in March 2023 after a bank run. The c ...

in 2019 and rebranded SVB Leerink. In 2015, the firm established a specialty pharmaceuticals and services franchise. In 2016, the firm established a convertible capital markets business. In 2019, Leerink Partners established alternative equities and ATM businesses. In 2021, SVB acquired media and telecom research company MoffettNathanson LCC. Further, SVB Leerink was rebranded as SVB Securities LLC. In 2021, the firm also expanded its leadership within the financial sponsor and leveraged finance sector and added five senior bankers to its healthcare services franchise. Following the

collapse of Silicon Valley Bank On March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed after a bank run, marking the third-largest bank failure in United States history and the largest since the 2008 financial crisis. It was one of three bank failures, along with Silvergate ...

in March 2023, the management of SVB Securities planned to buy back their firm from the parent group. On March 17, 2023, SVB Securities' parent company filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

, but SVB Securities itself was not included in the Chapter 11 filing. In June 2023, SVB Financial Group agreed to sell SVB Securities in a management buyout led by the latter's CEO, Leerink. The deal, backed by funds managed by the

Baupost Group The Baupost Group is a hedge fund founded in 1982 by William Poorvu and partners Howard Stevenson, Jordan Baruch and Isaac Auerbach. Seth Klarman, who was asked by Poorvu to help run the fund, remains at its head today. Baupost Group's investm ...

, includes $55million in cash besides repayment of $26million in debt and assumption of other liabilities. MoffettNathanson LLC was not included in the sale. In July 2023, the buyout was approved in bankruptcy court, and SVB Securities was renamed to Leerink Partners. Following its SVB demerger, Leerink Partners initiated an enterprise data program to streamline operations, modernized its data center, and reassessed its office footprint to ensure future growth. According to an October 2024 article from ''FinTech Magazine'', the company also partnered with the consulting firm Element22 to design a multi-year enterprise data program.

References

{{Investment banks 2019 mergers and acquisitions 2023 mergers and acquisitions Banks based in Massachusetts Banks established in 1995 Companies based in Boston Financial services companies established in 1995 Investment banks in the United States Privately held companies based in Massachusetts