Shards of Silicon Valley Bank Are for Sale, but No One Is Buying Yet

Bank of America, too, is so much larger than SVB — it has nearly $2 trillion in deposits, versus under $200 billion for SVB — that it decided the bank wasn’t worth taking on, a person familiar with the decision said.

Goldman Sachs, still grappling with the aftermath of its own misadventures in consumer banking, has also thus far passed on making an offer, one person said, though Goldman’s investment bank worked with SVB on shoring up its finances in the days before the collapse.

Other potential buyers are circling. The investment giants Apollo Global Management and Blackstone have discussed making bids for part of Silicon Valley Bank’s loans, perhaps in concert with venture capital funds that had deep ties to the bank. Apollo’s interest was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

Before its collapse, SVB said it served nearly half of venture-backed companies in the United States. Its British subsidiary, a tiny part of the bank’s operations, was sold on Monday to HSBC for one British pound.

At least one big Wall Street name has been jostling to get into the action. The billionaire investor Bill Ackman — not particularly well known as a bank investor — has been encouraging business associates to get involved, three people with knowledge of the matter said. At one point, Mr. Ackman expressed interest in participating in a consortium that would help the fallen bank, two of the people said.

Lauren Hirsch and Emily Flitter contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/business/silicon-valley-bank-auction.html