Moves JPMorgan reshuffles healthcare group, co-head departs

JPMorgan has advised on some of the largest healthcare deals this year, including Takeda Pharmaceutical’s pending $62 billion agreement to buy London-listed drugmaker Shire Plc and Eli Lilly & Co’s spinoff of its Elanco Animal Health Unit.

New Delhi: JPMorgan Chase & Co has appointed Mike Gaito as global co-head of healthcare investment banking after Jeff Stute, who held that role, left to join rival investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners LP, people familiar with the matter said.

The move coincides with JPMorgan seeking to solidify its position in dealmaking in the healthcare sector. It has held the top spot in global healthcare investment banking league tables since 2011, according to market research firm Dealogic.

San Francisco-based Gaito will serve as co-head of JPMorgan’s global healthcare investment banking group alongside London-based Michele Colocci, who rejoined the bank last year from Morgan Stanley, the sources said.

JPMorgan also appointed Phil Ross, who has been with the bank for 18 years, to be a vice chairman of investment banking with a focus on healthcare, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because there have been no public announcements.

JPMorgan and Perella Weinberg LP declined to comment.

JPMorgan has advised on some of the largest healthcare deals this year, including Takeda Pharmaceutical’s pending $62 billion agreement to buy London-listed drugmaker Shire Plc and Eli Lilly & Co’s spinoff of its Elanco Animal Health Unit.

Stute joins a string of JPMorgan healthcare bankers who have decamped for Perella Weinberg in the last few years, including Christopher O’Connor, Philippe McAuliffe, Nick Johnston and Avi Raval. Perella Weinberg is gearing up for an initial public offering that is expected in 2019, sources have said.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Liana B. Baker in New York; editing by Grant McCool)

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