Blackstone, PNC, Apollo among 20 firms that bid for SVB assets

AT LEAST 20 companies including units of Blackstone, PNC Financial Services Group and Apollo Global Management were involved in bids for parts of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after it collapsed.

A posting on Wednesday (May 10) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) listed names of unsuccessful bidders in the auction that followed the Mar 10 shutdown of SVB, along with separate lists of the terms offered, without saying which institution made each of the bids. There may be more bids than bidders because some of the firms made multiple offers, the FDIC said.

All told, the regulator received 10 submissions for both deposits and asset purchases including the winning bid, and five for pools of assets. It also got 10 additional bids for the private bank.

The winning proposal by First Citizens BancShares included all the deposits as well as US$72 billion of assets at a 23 per cent discount with a loss-sharing agreement.

The disclosure sheds light on how much competition exists for assets of collapsed banks. It also provides fodder for analysts and lawmakers trying to gauge the FDIC’s efforts to get the best deal for replenishing its deposit insurance fund after the failures of SVB, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank this year.

First Citizens was among at least four bidders that sought to take over all deposits and more than US$70 billion in assets. Among that group, it offered the lowest discount, the document shows.

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Other bids varied widely in size and terms, in some cases looking to break off certain chunks of the company. One offer sought US$28 billion in assets and another US$18 billion. The smallest zeroed in on US$1.17 billion in assets and about US$300 million in “wine-related” deposits, according to the list.

The bidders, as listed by the FDIC, were:

• AG Wine Group (Attollo Capital/Gordian Group), New York, NY
• Apollo, New York, NY
• BankUnited, NA, Miami Lakes, FL
• Centennial Bank, Conway, AR
• The Bank of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Bayview Acquisitions, Coral Gables, FL
• Blackstone/Liberty Capital, New York, NY
• Brex, Salt Lake City, UT
• CIBC Bank USA, Chicago, IL
• Citizens Bank, NA, Providence, RI
• Creative Planning, Overland Park, KS
• Lido Advisors, Los Angeles, CA
• Northeast Bank, Portland, ME
• PNC Bank, Wimington, DE
• Reverence Capital, New York, NY
• Safra National Bank of NY, New York, NY
• Sixth Street Partners, New York, NY
• Stifel Bank & Trust, St Louis, MO
• Valley Bank, Passaic, NJ

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