SVB Financial Group is seeking a buyer after regulators closed its Silicon Valley Bank unit, which buckled under the strain of declining deposits and losses on its securities portfolio.
(Bloomberg) — SVB Financial Group is seeking a buyer after regulators closed its Silicon Valley Bank unit, which buckled under the strain of declining deposits and losses on its securities portfolio.
A transaction might involve selling the company’s assets piecemeal or as a whole, according to a person familiar with the matter. The goal is to complete a deal by Monday, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters.
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said Friday said it has taken possession of Silicon Valley Bank and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver, citing inadequate liquidity and insolvency. It was the biggest US bank failure since 2008.
SVB had earlier abandoned a last-minute plan to raise $2.25 billion in deal run by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to shore up funds as technology startups, fearing a liquidity crunch, yanked their cash, other people familiar with the matter said. SVB has hired Centerview Partners LLC to explore other solutions, according to one of the people.
Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Centerview declined to comment. A representative for SVB didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
VC Flight
A number of prominent venture capital firms, including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, were advising portfolio companies to pull money as a precaution after the bank said it was hit by losses on its securities portfolio and a slowdown in funding at the venture capital-backed firms it serves.
Shares of SVB plunged as much as 69% in pre-market New York trading on Friday before the shares were halted. The company said it has disposed of a large part of its available-for-sale securities.
The plan SVB announced on Wednesday included the sale of $1.25 billion of common stock and the sale of $500 million of securities that represent convertible preferred shares. General Atlantic also committed to purchase $500 million of common stock.
–With assistance from Max Reyes.
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