BlackRock headquarters in New York, United States, Friday, January 13, 2023. via Getty Images
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Black stone has denied a report that it is preparing a takeover bid for a embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse.
“BlackRock is not participating in any plans to acquire all or any part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so,” a company spokesperson told CNBC Saturday morning.
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It comes after It was reported by the Financial Times that the US asset manager was working on a bid to acquire the bank, citing people familiar with the situation.
UBS has also been suggested as a potential buyer, with The FT reports Friday that negotiations are underway to take over all or part of Credit Suisse. UBS has not commented on the report.
Credit Suisse’s future appears to hang in the balance after a multibillion-dollar lifeline offered by the Swiss central bank last week failed to reassure investors.
Credit Suisse shares recorded its worst weekly decline since the corona pandemic began last week and is down nearly 35% in the month to date.
The latest decline in the stock price followed Saudi National Bank disclosed it would not provide the bank with more cash and follows a delay in its annual results over financial reporting issues.
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank – the biggest US bank failure since Lehman Brothers – and the closure of New York-based Signature Bank exacerbated jitters around the global banking sector.
Credit Suisse was already in the midst of a massive strategic overhaul aimed at restoring stability and profitability. It has met various scandals and controversies over the past few years, including the fallout from it involvement with the collapsed supply chain finance firm, Greensill Capitalwhich led to $1.7 billion in losses.
The bankruptcy of hedge fund Archegos Capital not long after led to another $5.5 billion loss for the Swiss investment bank.
These – and other controversies – hit investor and customer confidence hard, causing the bank to lose billions of dollars in deposits.
— CNBC’s Ganesh Rao and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.