risked starving its 3,500 UK customers – largely tech firms – of cash, and spooking the wider banking sector.
But 15 years on the technological adoption sparked by pandemic lockdowns have changed the way failing lenders are rescued. Gone are the days of shuttling chairmen and executives to Downing Street for crunch talks. It also meant little to no sleep – including for more than the 100 tech bosses, lobby group members and investors, and were waiting on tenterhooks for a deal that would save hundreds of start-ups from being paralysed due to lost cash needed to pay staff and suppliers from Monday morning.
Eventually, HSBC, OakNorth and Bank of London – which was leading a consortium of private equity backers including Carlyle and Fortress – submitted bids for the stricken lender. It meant emergency coordination with US regulators – who had seized and taken control of the American parent bank on Friday afternoon – to ensure they would ringfence the technology assets for the potential UK sale. Some executives feared they would have to fly to Washington to complete the deal, though eventually, a virtual meeting completed the transfer.
It was 4am on Monday before officials secured the deal and made their decision: HSBC, which already had a strong balance sheet and would not have to raise more capital, was the safest bet, andBy 5am, rivals were formally notified, and preparations were made for an announcement by 7am – an hour before the London markets opened.
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Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »