Centerview Announces Appointments of Rakesh Mehta and Najeeb Ali

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Centerview Partners, a leading independent investment banking advisory firm, announced today that healthcare industry veterans Rakesh Mehta and Najeeb Ali have joined the firm as Partners in Centerview’s San Francisco and New York offices, respectively. Mehta and Ali join Centerview from J.P. Morgan’s healthcare investment banking group; Mehta most recently served as Vice Chairman and head of the firm’s Global Medtech practice, and Ali most recently served as a Managing Director in the practice.

“Rakesh and Najeeb’s experience and acumen will be invaluable as we continue to help clients navigate the unique and evolving challenges across the healthcare spectrum,” said Alan Hartman and Mark Robinson, senior Partners at Centerview focusing on healthcare. “At a moment when the pipeline for healthcare M&A remains robust, and Boards are seeking differentiated and thoughtful advice to plan prudently in a time of uncertainty, the additions of Rakesh and Najeeb will further elevate our firm’s offering, add additional expertise to our healthcare team and immediately create a market leading franchise in medtech.”

“Centerview is one of the world’s leading investment banks, with premier life sciences and pharma practices known for both advising on high-profile transactions and for being a respected advisor to management teams and Boards through the lifecycle of their business,” said Mehta. “I am honored to join this entrepreneurial-minded team at this stage in my career, and I look forward to leveraging the firm’s global platform and deep intellectual capital to drive positive outcomes for our clients.”

“I am thrilled to join Centerview and to support companies across the medtech ecosystem at such a dynamic and exciting time for the industry,” said Ali. “I am eager to working alongside Centerview’s talented team as we support clients through their most critical strategic, financial and operational decisions.”

“We are pleased to expand our senior healthcare team with the additions of Rakesh and Najeeb, whose appointments are a testament to the firm’s successful life sciences, healthcare and healthcare services franchise, and the tremendous work the team has done to build this industry-leading practice,” said Blair Effron and Robert Pruzan, co-founders of Centerview. “We are confident that their combined insights, relationships and track records will further accelerate the practice’s strong growth trajectory.”

About Rakesh Mehta

Rakesh Mehta has advised numerous companies in the medtech healthcare sector on key strategic and financial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, defense advisory, complex carve-outs and private and public capital markets transactions. Most recently, Mehta was Vice Chairman at J.P. Morgan’s healthcare investment banking group and led the firm's Global Medtech practice, which serves large cap, midcap, emerging growth and VC-backed private companies. Mehta has advised on numerous high-profile medtech transactions, including Johnson & Johnson’s nearly $6 billion acquisition of Auris, Wright’s acquisition by Stryker for nearly $6 billion and Spectranetics’s acquisition by Royal Philips for approximately $2 billion.

About Najeeb Ali

Najeeb Ali has over 18 years of investment banking experience across the healthcare sector, including in medical devices, life sciences and healthcare services. Ali spent his entire banking career in J.P. Morgan’s healthcare group, where he most recently served as a Managing Director and advised clients on key strategic and financial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, complex carve-outs and structuring transactions, as well as complex equity and debt capital markets transactions. Ali has executed over $250 billion in transactions over the course of his career, including Zimmer’s $1.5 billion spin-off of ZimVie, BK Medical’s $1.5 billion acquisition by GE and Cardinal Health’s $1 billion sale of its Cordis business to Hellman & Friedman.

About Centerview Partners

Centerview Partners, based in New York and with offices in London, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Palo Alto, operates an international investment banking advisory practice across all sectors, specializing in independent advice and other client services capitalizing on the experience of its principals. The firm’s nearly 70 partners and over 500 professionals around the world provide senior-level counsel to both domestic and international clients and its business includes general and M&A advisory as well as restructuring.

Since its founding in 2006, the firm has advised clients on over $3 trillion in transactions. Members of the firm have experience in a range of industries including consumer products, financial services, food and beverage, energy, entertainment and media, general industrial & chemicals, healthcare and healthcare services, technology, telecommunications, restructuring, retail, real estate, gaming and utilities sectors.