FDIC auction for Silicon Valley Bank underway, final bids due Sunday
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. kicked off an auction process late Saturday for Silicon Valley Bank, with final bids due by Sunday afternoon, according to people familiar with the matter.
The FDIC is aiming for a swift deal but a winner may not be known until late Sunday, according to one person, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. No final decision has been made and it’s possible that no deal will be reached, said the people.
The failure of one of the tech industry’s central institutions could leave countless companies unable to pay their employees in the coming weeks.
Representatives for the FDIC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Silicon Valley Bank collapsed into FDIC receivership Friday, after its long-established customer base of tech start-ups grew concerned and yanked deposits. At the end of last year, SVB had more than $175 billion in deposits — the vast majority of which are uninsured — and $209 billion in total assets.
The FDIC is now racing to sell assets and make a portion of clients’ uninsured deposits available as soon as Monday, people with knowledge of the situation have said. The agency has said it will make 100% of protected deposits available Monday, when Silicon Valley Bank branches reopen.
Bloomberg staff writer Ben Bain contributed to this report.
