SVB Financial Group is exploring strategic alternatives for its investment-banking division as well as its venture capital and private credit fund platform, as the company continues to deal with the fallout of the collapse of its bank.
(Bloomberg) — SVB Financial Group is exploring strategic alternatives for its investment-banking division as well as its venture capital and private credit fund platform, as the company continues to deal with the fallout of the collapse of its bank. Â
The two divisions are separate from Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed into Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. receivership on Friday, SVB said in a statement Monday. A board committee is also exploring options for about $3 billion of funded debt held by the firm’s holding company.
A newly established restructuring committee on the company’s board of directors will lead the process. While Silicon Valley Bank made up the vast majority of SVB’s assets, SVB Securities is the firm’s investment bank, which advised on about $9 billion in mergers and acquisitions last year. SVB Capital is the fund platform, which managed $9.5 billion at the end of December.
On Friday, Silicon Valley Bank became the biggest US lender to fail in more than a decade, after a frenetic week that saw an unsuccessful attempt to raise capital following a cash exodus from the startups that fueled its rise. The bank was valued at more than $40 billion as recently as last year.
The head of SVB Securities, Jeff Leerink, and his team are seeking help to finance a potential management buyout of the investment bank, Bloomberg News reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
SVB Financial Group has hired Centerview Partners LLC, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Alvarez & Marsal for financial, legal, and restructuring advice, respectively. Board members Eric Benhamou, Tom King, Kay Matthews, Mary Miller and Kate Mitchell are all on the newly formed restructuring committee, according to the statement.
(Updates with details starting in third paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.