Credit Suisse Group AG is trying to bring in an outside investor to inject money into a spinoff of its advisory and investment banking businesses, as the firm’s leaders aim to put the finishing touches on their planned overhaul.
Businesses being targeted for a boutique-style future include the advisory and dealmaking teams alongside the leveraged finance unit, people with knowledge of the deliberations said. The bank is interested in an outside investor to take a partial stake in order to provide capital and help fund the costs of hiring and keeping talent, the people said.
Talks on reviving the First Boston name for the spun-out businesses, which would get most of their revenue from the US, are also advancing, the people said, asking not to be named. The bank is also considering other options and deliberations are still ongoing.
Credit Suisse’s investment bank sits at the heart of Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Koerner’s planned restructuring after it racked up huge losses and played a frontline role in some of its biggest scandals. The bank is trying to reduce risks and costs associated with the business, while keeping at least some of the revenues and capabilities to service wealth management clients.
A spinout of the dealmaking and underwriting unit would effectively break the troubled division into three pieces, with Credit Suisse keeping a shrunken trading unit while hiving off its securitized products group and other assets it wants to offload. And attracting outside investors would help answer how it will finance a major restructuring, questions that have weighed on the stock as the firm wants to avoid a share sale with the price near record lows.
The appeal of the spun-out unit would be a stake in a franchise with a long history of advising on major mergers and stock offerings. Michael Klein, a US dealmaker who also sits on the board of directors of Credit Suisse, has been heavily involved in pushing for the revival of the First Boston brand, the people said.
Still, the bank would be seeking to sell potential investors on a leveraged finance business that has been hit with losses amid turbulent markets and a dealmaking unit that has seen dozens of top performers depart.
“We have said we will update on progress on our comprehensive strategy review when we announce our third quarter earnings,” the bank said in a statement. “It would be premature to comment on any potential outcomes before then.”
Shares of Credit Suisse rose 2.2% at 1:32 p.m. in Zurich trading.
It’s unclear if the bank has had substantive talks with potential investors and the spinout plans aren’t set in stone, the people said. In the past, the Swiss firm has often turned to investors from the Middle East, with Qatar Investment Authority investing during the financial crisis and buying convertible bonds the firm issued last year.