MOVES-Goldman Sachs hires Asia healthcare banker from Morgan Stanley -sources

HONG KONG, June 26 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs hashired Samuel Thong from Morgan Stanley as the chairman ofthe healthcare group in the bank's Asia excluding-Japaninvestment banking division, people with knowledge of the movesaid.

Thong, who will also be designated as co-head of the U.S.bank's healthcare group in Asia excluding-Japan, will start inhis new role next month, said the sources, who declined to benamed as the information is not public yet.

Before covering healthcare investment banking in Asia atMorgan Stanley, Thong worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch,according to the people and the information available in hisLinkedIn profile.

A spokesman for Goldman in Hong Kong confirmed the hiring ofThong.

Goldman's hiring of the banker comes against the backdrop ofa surge in healthcare deals in the region, mainly by Chinesefirms such as Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group that raisedroughly $1 billion this month in an IPO.(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; editing by David Evans)