Following banking regulators’ takeover of SVB Financial Group’s largest asset, Silicon Valley Bank, the Santa Clara, California-based holding company is looking at alternatives for its remaining businesses.
SVB Financial appointed a restructuring committee consisting of five independent directors to explore strategic alternatives for the company and its SVB Capital and SVB Securities businesses, as well as other assets and investments.
In addition to exploring potential transactions for SVB Capital and SVB Securities, the committee will explore all alternatives for addressing the approximately $3 billion of funded debt held by the holding company.
SVB Capital and SVB Securities both reported losses in 2022, according to SVB Financial’s annual report released last month.
SVB Capital is a funds management business focusing primarily on venture capital investments. The division reported a loss of $180 million after posting a profit of $416 million the year before.
SVB Securities is an investment bank focused on providing investment banking services across all major subsectors of healthcare and technology. It lost $95 million last year but made a profit of $48 million in 2021.
Both units faced downturns in fundraising and venture capital investment last year as interest rate increases disrupted capital markets.
Both of these businesses are separate divisions of SVB Financial and not part of Silicon Valley Bank, which was taken over by California banking regulators Friday. The bank’s assets are now under the jurisdiction of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve.
SVB Financial did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SVB Securities issued a separate statement saying it would continue its independent operations unimpeded by Silicon Valley Bank's receivership proceedings.
“We understand that the receivership of Silicon Valley Bank has caused concern among our clients and stakeholders,” SVB Securities’ CEO Jeff Leerink said. “We want to assure you that SVB Securities is financially stable and will continue to operate as usual. We remain committed to providing the same level of high-quality products and services that our clients have come to expect from us.”