First Citizens about to buy Silicon Valley Bank?

First Citizens BancShares is in talks to acquire Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after the startup and tech-focused bank broke down this month, according to people familiar with the matter.

First Citizens may come to an agreement to buy back SVB with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation of the United States (FDIC) as soon as March 26 (US time), based on close sources. The two sides have yet to make a final decision and the negotiations may still fall apart.

A representative of the FDIC declined to comment and First Citizens did not respond to the above information.

SVB became the largest US bank to fail in more than a decade. This bank suffered a heavy loss because it sold quickly securities in the context of increasing interest rates, thereby making investors and depositors worried and withdrawing money from SVB.

As of March 24, First Citizens – based in North Carolina – has a market capitalization of $8.4 billion.

According to Bloomberg, Valley National Bancorp, and First Citizens BancShares Inc., all want to buy Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after the tech-focused bank collapsed this month, according to people familiar with the matter at Bloomberg.

Two local banks, Valley National and First Citizens, submitted SVB bids to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) by the March 24 deadline, according to people familiar with the matter. The FDIC previously took over SVB and has been in the process of finding a buyer for the past 2 weeks. The agency is expected to select the winning bidder as quickly as possible by the end of this week. A final decision has not been made yet and the FDIC may choose to keep the SVB or sell it to a more suitable party.

First Citizens declined to comment on the rumor. Representatives for Valley National and the FDIC also did not respond to this request.

SVB became the largest US bank to fail in more than a decade. This bank suffered a heavy loss because it sold quickly securities in the context of increasing interest rates, thereby making investors and depositors worried and withdrawing money from SVB.

As of March 24, First Citizens – based in North Carolina – has a market capitalization of $8.4 billion, while the capitalization of Valley National – based in New Jersey – stands at $4.7 billion.