Silicon Valley Bank's U.K. business has been sold to HSBC for £1, the British government and bank announced on Monday morning.
Why it matters: Despite its name, the bank best known for serving startups as its customers is a global business, with outposts outside of the U.S. in Europe, Canada, Israel and a Chinese joint venture.
Details: The subsidiary's depositors will be protected, and they'll be able to access their accounts normally, beginning Monday.
- No taxpayer funds were used for the transaction.
- "At the point of failure, SVBUK had a total balance sheet size of approximately £8.8bn [$10.7 billion], and a deposit base of approximately £6.7bn," according to the Bank of England.
- It also had around £5.5 billion ($6.3 billion) in loans, and its tangible equity is expected to be around £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion), per HSBC.
Of note: The 2-year-old Bank of London had also submitted a bid to acquire the business, according to Sky News. Oaknorth Bank and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi state-backed investment vehicle, were reportedly also interested.
Thought bubble: The acquisition of pieces of Silicon Valley Bank and its parent company could make the American bank more attractive to buyers by making it smaller and cheaper.
What we're watching: Though the U.S. government announced it would backstop depositors in the U.S. business, no buyer had been announced as of early Monday.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
