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Investment Banker·Behavioral Health

Michael Pisani

Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Healthcare at Houlihan Lokey

Dallas, TX

MP
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Why they matter

As Global Co-Head of Healthcare at a top healthcare M&A bank, Pisani runs live behavioral-health sellside processes and can flag rollup targets before they hit the broader market.

Background

Michael Pisani is a Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Healthcare at Houlihan Lokey, based in the firm's Dallas office, with more than 20 years of healthcare investment banking experience, including 15+ years at Houlihan Lokey. He has closed more than 100 healthcare M&A, financing, and equity-raise transactions and is credited by the firm with advising over 30 healthcare organizations spanning behavioral health, retail healthcare, distribution, physician practice management, pharmacy, vision care, and outsourced services. Before Houlihan Lokey he worked at Deloitte on strategic advisory and M&A engagements for Fortune 500 healthcare clients.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Interviewed by The Deal on private equity and M&A momentum in the aesthetics/medspa sector
  • 2024
    Quoted (as Co-Head of U.S. Healthcare) announcing two senior Healthcare Group hires, including a Managing Director dedicated to behavioral healthcare coverage
  • 2025
    Named point-of-contact for Houlihan Lokey's Fall 2025 Behavioral Health Sector Spotlight report

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Managing Director & Global Co-Head of Healthcare, Houlihan Lokey (Dallas); 20+ years in healthcare IB, 15+ at HL; ex-Deloitte strategic advisory/M&A.
  • Closed 100+ healthcare transactions (sellside/buyside M&A, financings, equity raises); firm-cited client roster spans behavioral health, retail healthcare, pharmacy, vision care, and physician practice management.

Current focus

  • Co-leads HL's ~100-person, 13-office global Healthcare Group alongside Mark Francis (Global Head of Healthcare).
  • Serves as the named contact on HL's Fall 2025 Behavioral Health Sector Spotlight report.
  • Publicly discussed PE appetite in aesthetics/medspa consolidation (The Deal, July 2025) — signals he tracks provider-rollup dynamics beyond core behavioral health.

What he cares about

  • Execution quality and a "team-oriented, client-centric" process, per his own framing when welcoming new hires.
  • Positioning HL as the go-to bank for founder-led, fragmented healthcare services platforms weighing a first institutional sale.

Recent moves

  • Helped recruit Kerr Robertson (Jan 2024), a Managing Director with dedicated behavioral healthcare coverage — signals HL is deliberately scaling behavioral health deal flow.

Sensitivities

  • As a sellside banker he represents company/founder interests, not buyers — expect him to gatekeep access to live mandates and avoid disclosing confidential processes.
  • May be conflicted discussing named competitors if HL is already retained on the other side.

Questions to ask

  1. Which behavioral health subsectors (SUD, ABA, outpatient MH) are seeing the most sponsor-backed rollup activity right now?
  2. Are any current or recent sellside mandates a fit for our thesis, or can he flag founders weighing a first institutional partner?
  3. Given Kerr Robertson's dedicated behavioral health coverage, who on the team should we build a relationship with for early looks at processes?

Outreach draft

Subject
Behavioral Health Rollup Thesis — Quick Call?
Hi Michael, I lead deal sourcing for our firm's behavioral health platform, where we're building a rollup across outpatient and specialty behavioral care. Your work co-leading Houlihan Lokey's Healthcare Group — and the team's recent build-out of dedicated behavioral health coverage — caught our attention, especially given your Fall 2025 Sector Spotlight. We'd value 20 minutes to hear how you're seeing sponsor appetite and valuation trends in the space right now, and to make sure we're on your radar for any founder-led platforms considering a first institutional partner. Would you have time in the next couple of weeks? Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources