BlackRock is making a rival bid for Credit Suisse that would defeat plans approved by the Swiss central bank for UBS to acquire the struggling rival, five people with knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times.
The US investment giant is evaluating several options and talking to other potential investors, people briefed on the matter said. Among these options is a business-only offer.
However, BlackRock said it was “not involved in any plans to acquire all or part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so”.
Larry Fink, co-founder and chief executive of $8.6tn money manager BlackRock, is driving the bid, according to people familiar with the matter. Fink previously worked at First Boston, Credit Suisse’s investment banking business.
BlackRock has long been one of Credit Suisse’s biggest investment banking clients, particularly its fixed income trading desk. The deal, particularly for the US arm, would be an opportunistic way to bring trading capacity in-house, one of the people said.
Any agreement would face significant regulatory hurdles in Europe and the US.
The Swiss National Bank and regulator Finma chose a Swiss solution to resolve the crisis at Credit Suisse, according to people familiar with the matter.
The FT reported that the SNB and Finma are orchestrating talks between Credit Suisse and UBS in an effort to shore up confidence in the country’s banking sector. The pair has been exploring transactions that could lead to a full or partial combination between the banks.
The talks came days after the central bank was forced to provide a SFr50bn ($54bn) emergency credit line to Credit Suisse.
However, this support failed to hold the slide in the bank’s stock price, which has fallen to a record low after the largest investor ordered out to recapitalize and its chair admits that it continues to suffer an exodus of wealth management clients.
Credit Suisse declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Laura Noonan