By Pradeep Saran, September 18, 2023
SkyBridge Capital, led by Anthony Scaramucci, is among the prominent asset management firms actively participating in the bidding process for Silicon Valley Bank’s venture capital arm, SVB Capital. The sale of SVB Capital is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, is progressing towards a deal to divest SVB Capital. The Wall Street Journal, citing insider sources in a report dated September 15, revealed that SkyBridge Capital and Atlas Merchant Capital are competing with San Francisco’s Vector Capital in the final stages of the bidding process.
It is speculated that the sale price for SVB Capital could range from $250 million to $500 million. However, it’s important to note that a final sale is not guaranteed and would still need to undergo review by the creditor’s committee.
A decision regarding the sale is anticipated to be made by the court in the upcoming weeks. It’s worth highlighting that SVB Capital was not included in SVB’s broader Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The bank has stated that SVB Capital will continue its regular business operations despite being offered for sale.
SVB Capital serves as an investment capital platform engaged in various investments, including support for prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). As of December 2022, SVB Capital had assets totaling $9.5 billion across 20 funds and 760 companies, including its investments in blockchain analytics service Chainalysis.
In contrast, SkyBridge Capital, led by Anthony Scaramucci, manages assets totaling approximately $1.8 billion, with roughly $580 million allocated to cryptocurrencies and other digital asset-related investments.
Cointelegraph reached out to both SkyBridge Capital and SVB Capital for comments but received no response at the time of publishing.
Earlier this year, Silicon Valley Bank faced regulatory issues in California, leading to its shutdown by the state’s financial watchdog on March 10, followed by a bankruptcy filing on March 17. Prior to its downfall, Silicon Valley Bank was known for offering banking services to cryptocurrency companies in the United States.
The situation at Silicon Valley Bank was part of a broader banking crisis in the crypto and tech-friendly banking sector, which also affected institutions like Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank. This crisis was considered the most significant in the industry since the financial turmoil of 2008.
Furthermore, earlier this year, SVB Financial’s investment-banking arm, SVB Securities, was sold for $100 million to its founder, Jeff Leerink, and other senior managers.
This article encapsulates a pivotal moment in financial history and is an important piece of independent journalism in the cryptocurrency space.
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