William Blair Expands Life Sciences Group With Addition of Three Managing Directors

CHICAGO & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--William Blair, the premier global boutique with expertise in investment banking, investment management, and private wealth management, today announced the continued expansion of the firm’s robust life sciences practice with the additions of Neha Motwani and Rizwan Velji as managing directors. Based in the firm’s New York office, Motwani and Velji bring deep knowledge and depth of experience in biopharma and related industries, presenting clients with expert advisory in equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and the specialized financial guidance that will serve William Blair’s clients well.

Motwani joins from Truist Securities, where she was a managing director. Velji joins from Citigroup, where he was a managing director. Their combined 40-plus years of industry experience offers clients a wide array of advisory solutions and a breadth of understanding in all aspects of biopharma investment banking.

“We are thrilled by the continued growth today’s announcement represents for the Life Sciences team. Neha and Rizwan join the 29 additional Life Sciences bankers across the United States and Europe already delivering unique insights that our clients in this exciting, fast-paced industry have come to expect in their investment bankers,” said Steve Tole, co-head of Healthcare investment banking at William Blair. “William Blair continues to invest in top talent, while refining our structure, to optimize coverage alignment and collaboration in areas of convergence and delivery of service excellence to clients, executed by a team with deep industry expertise.”

Simultaneously, the firm announced the addition of Shantha Ozgen as a managing director responsible for the firm’s outreach to institutional investors focused on the life sciences industry. Ozgen joins from Credit Suisse and combines a deep understanding of complex life sciences research with a respected industry reputation of working with a network of leading life sciences investors. In her role, Ozgen will leverage the equity research produced by William Blair’s nine life sciences analysts, covering more than 135 companies in the industry.

“Shantha’s addition represents a key point of differentiation for our service offering and delivery of comprehensive research, guidance, and service to highly targeted institutional sales leaders,” said John Moore, head of Institutional Equities, Sales, Trading and Research at William Blair. “Shantha’s expertise spans the entire product lifecycle—from discovery to regulatory interaction to delivery of care for the patient—and is only underscored by her vast network of contacts at targeted institutional investment firms.”

William Blair’s Healthcare investment banking team is having a record year in 2021, with 46 equity transactions, 37 M&A transactions, and four debt transactions, for a total of $31.47 billion in deal volume.

About William Blair Investment Banking

William Blair’s investment banking group enables corporations, financial sponsors, and owner/entrepreneurs around the world to achieve their growth, liquidity, and financing objectives. Drawing on the collective intellectual capital and deep sector expertise of a global team that reaches over 20 cities on four continents, the investment banking group brings a rigorous and innovative approach to corporate board advisory projects, mergers and acquisitions, and equity and debt financing. From 2016 to 2020, the team advised on more than $430 billion in completed transaction volume.

About William Blair

William Blair is the premier global boutique with expertise in investment banking, investment management, and private wealth management. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet our clients’ evolving needs. As an independent and employee-owned firm, together with our strategic partners, we operate in more than 20 offices worldwide.*

*Includes strategic partnerships with Allier Capital, BDA Partners, and Poalim Capital Markets.