JPMorgan
Chase and
PNC Financial Services Group
are among a handful of institutions competing for the assets of
First Republic Bank
in a bidding process that could conclude as soon as Sunday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Government officials have asked banks interested in some or all of First Republic’s assets to make binding bids by Sunday, the person said. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would likely put First Republic (ticker: FRC) into receivership while announcing which institution would acquire some of the bank’s assets and liabilities, the person said.
If no bids are accepted, the FDIC could instead seize First Republic and set a new bidding deadline for late next week, the person said.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that JPMorgan (JPM) and PNC (PNC) were bidding on the bank.
Spokespeople for the FDIC and First Republic declined to comment.
Shares of First Republic began to plunge on Monday after the San Francisco-based bank reported it had $104.5 billion of deposits in the first quarter, down $72 billion from three months prior. That came after a $30 billion injection of deposits from large banks including JPMorgan and Bank of America (BAC).
The bank said it would reduce its workforce by as much as 25% to cut costs and shrink its balance sheet, but that didn’t appease investors. Over the last five days, the stock has lost about 84% of its value, including an after-hours drop on Friday.
Write to Carleton English at carleton.english@dowjones.com and Joe Light at joe.light@barrons.com
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