Citizens Financial Group places a bid for SVB Private

Citizens Financial Group is working on placing a bid for the acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by US regulators earlier this month amid liquidity concerns. Regulators have since been looking for ways to liquidate the bank’s assets and bring them back to the market.

Silicon Financial Group places a bid for Silicon Valley Bank

Citizens Financial Group is among the largest regional banks in the United States. The bank is now preparing to place an offer in the auction for SVB Private. The bid, if successful, could see Citizens acquiring a significant market share in the US banking system.

SVB’s auction is being done by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC took over SVB following its closure and worked alongside other US regulators to ensure depositors at the bank were made whole amid the closure.

The FDIC has said that Friday is the deadline for companies to place their offers. Sources with close knowledge of the matter noted that none of the submitted deals is certain, and deliberations are ongoing. The FDIC is currently in control of the assets owned by Silicon Valley Bank.

Since the former shut down its operations, the FDIC had attempted to sell SVB Private alongside the broader Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Valley Bank was largely focused on the technology sector, and US regulators took it over on March 10. However, regulators have not secured a deal to sell SVB Private and Silicon Valley Bank as single entities.

Regulators have since created separate offers for the two entities. The interested parties have a deadline of March 24 to submit their offers. However, this sale does not include SVB Financial Group. The latter was the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, and it has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

SVB Private is one of the subsidiaries of the SVB Financial Group. This division is exclusive to high-net-worth individuals, giving them access to banking, wealth management, and trust services. SVB Private comprises Boston Private, a wealth management firm that SVB acquired in 2021.

Citizens Financial is expanding

Citizens Financial submitted this deal as the institution is focused on expansion plans. The company has been making strategic acquisitions. The lender closed the acquisition of the US East Coast branch network for HSBC Holdings Plc in February last year. It later secured a deal to purchase Investors Bancorp.

Citizens Financials is based in Rhode Island and ranks as the third-largest bank by deposits in Massachusetts. The bank has branches across 14 states and the District of Columbia. It is also among the largest banks in the US by deposits.

However, Citizens is not the only US-based institution that has shown interest in Silicon Valley Bank. First Citizens BancShares has also bid to acquire all Silicon Valley Bank assets being sold by the FDIC.