Equity Capital Markets

Rahul Chaudhary is the Head of Healthcare Equity Capital Markets at SVB Leerink and has successfully led the team for almost a decade. Since joining the firm, Mr. Chaudhary has led the execution of over 450 bookrun offerings, including more than 100 IPO’s.

Prior to joining the firm in 2009, Mr. Chaudhary was an integral part of Merrill Lynch’s ECM group, where he focused on origination and execution of healthcare equity and equity-linked transactions. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in 2004 in the Investment Banking group focusing on the consumer sector where he worked on a variety of equity, debt and M&A assignments.

Mr. Chaudhary earned a B.A. in Finance from the University of Illinois.

Matthew Walsh is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of Tech Equity Capital Markets at SVB Leerink.  With over 20 years of experience Mr. Walsh has led the origination and execution of hundreds of transactions including some of the most innovative and notable technology IPOs over the last few years.

Mr. Walsh joined the firm in 2021 from Credit Suisse where he was a Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Technology, Media & Telecom Equity Capital Markets.  During his time at Credit Suisse, Mr. Walsh was instrumental in rebuilding the leading the Credit Suisse technology franchise.  Prior to Credit Suisse Mr. Walsh spent over 15 years at Merrill Lynch & Co working in a variety of roles across Equity Capital Markets and Healthcare & Technology Investment Banking, most recently leading the TMT Equity Capital Markets business.  He started his career at JP Morgan & Co in New York.

Mr. Walsh earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Georgetown University.

Prasanth “Burri” Rao-Kathi is a Senior Managing Director at SVB Leerink and leads the firm’s Convertibles business.

Prior to joining the firm in 2016, Mr. Rao-Kathi was the Head of Equity-Linked (Convertibles) Origination in the Capital Markets group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mr. Rao-Kathi joined the ECM group at Merrill Lynch in 1999 and worked on a number of Merrill Lynch’s landmark convertible innovations over the last 15 years including: Contingent Conversion, Contingent Payment, Bond Hedges, HiPrs, Collateralization, Simultaneous Bond and Stock Repurchases, and Prepaid Forwards in conjunction with new issues. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Mr. Rao-Kathi worked in Fixed Income Swaps Marketing and Trading and Corporate Finance/ Mergers and Acquisitions at J.P. Morgan.

Mr. Rao-Kathi is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Georgetown University with double majors in Finance and International Business and a minor in English. He received his M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jesse Chasse is a Managing Director of Tech Equity Capital Markets at SVB Leerink. With over a decade of experience, he has devoted his investment banking career to partnering with Technology Companies, Venture Capitalists and Financial Sponsors to raise capital and position businesses for success in the public markets. During that time, Mr. Chasse has helped originate and execute over 250 book run offerings.

Mr. Chasse joined the firm in 2021 from Credit Suisse where he served as a Director of the Technology Equity Capital Markets team in both the firm’s New York and San Francisco offices. Mr. Chasse also served as a Global Citizen for the firm, volunteering with an African microfinance organization and traveling to Kenya to develop the organization’s Business Plan and Financial Model.

Mr. Chasse holds a Bachelor of Science from College of Charleston.

Jack Bannister is a Managing Director on the Equity Capital Markets team at SVB Leerink. He partners with healthcare and life sciences companies to raise capital and position them for success in the public markets.

Mr. Bannister joined the firm in 2021 from Goldman Sachs where he served as Vice President of the Healthcare Equity Capital Markets team. Mr. Bannister began his career as an Equity Analyst with T. Rowe Price in Baltimore.

Mr. Bannister holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

Roger Salazar, Jr. is a Managing Director and Head of SPACs at SVB Leerink. He is responsible for advising our clients on SPAC related transactions. His expertise spans across the full lifecycle of a SPAC from IPO to business combination. Roger has worked with the most prominent SPAC sponsors and advised corporates on their mergers with SPACs.

Mr. Salazar joined the firm in 2021 from Citigroup where he specialized in SPACs. He successfully priced a record number of SPAC deals, including over 115 SPAC IPOs and participated in more than 30 SPAC mergers. Prior, to his career at Citigroup, Mr. Salazar spent five years at RBC Capital Markets.

Mr. Salazar earned a B.S. in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern School of Business.