SVB agrees to sell its investment banking division

SVB Financial Group SIVBQ.PK said on Sunday it has entered into an agreement to sell its investment banking division, SVB Securities, to a group led by Jeff Leerink and backed by funds managed by The Baupost Group.

The bidder group led by Leerink, who is chief executive of SVB Securities, will acquire the investment banking business for a combination of cash, repayment of an intercompany note, and a 5% equity instrument, the company said.

MoffettNathanson LLC, the company's research business, was not included in the transaction, the collapsed lender said, adding that it will remain a part of the company.

The deal comes after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over Silicon Valley Bank in March after depositors rushed to pull out their money in a bank run that wiped out more than half the market value of several US regional lenders and triggered the worst banking crisis since 2008.

First Citizens BancShares Inc FCNCA.O bought all the loans and deposits of the failed bank in March, leaving some $90 billion in securities with the FDIC for sale.

The lender continues to evaluate strategic alternatives for its division, SVB Capital, and company's other assets and investments, it said.

The collapse of SVB in March reverberated around the world, sending US depositors fleeing smaller banks for larger cousins while the hit to confidence forced Credit Suisse into the arms of rival UBS.