How does the sage advice go? Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer.
It was about three years ago that Credit Suisse got caught for spying on its former executive in Zurich: Iqbal Khan, who had once been head of the bank’s wealth management division. An investigator had been trailing Khan for about a week in September 2019, snapping an occasional photo, and trying to determine whether Khan would lure any Credit Suisse colleagues over to his new employer, located literally next door: UBS.
It was one of a few very-public spats between Credit Suisse and UBS that date back years and make UBS’s planned acquisition of its competitor all the more intriguing.
Now, the two rivals are coming together. And you have to wonder how that will go, which executives will last, and which divisions ultimately survive, are spun out, or wind down. (A UBS spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the company’s statements this weekend regarding the acquisition.)
But this is 2023—and this is March 2023. And this is also Credit Suisse.
“This acquisition is attractive for UBS shareholders but, let us be clear, as far as Credit Suisse is concerned, this is an emergency rescue,” UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher said in a statement on Sunday.
Some good news, please? As Silicon Valley Bank spiraled into collapse over the last two weeks, not all was doom, gloom, and panic. I’ve heard about a lot of people looking out for one another—loans from personal accounts, bankers working around the clock, and founders stepping in to help each other out. Let’s draw attention to some of those stories in Term Sheet. Which individuals have gone above and beyond during the last couple of weeks? Who are the unsung heroes? I want to hear who has restored your faith in the private markets.
See you tomorrow,
Jackson Fordyce curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
