Reports have alleged that asset management firm State Street is planning on purchasing Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse.
Swiss financial news outlet, Inside Paradeplatz published a story describing the offer of 9 Swiss francs for each Credit Suisse share by the Boston-based asset management firm, which totals over $23.6 billion.
It was reported that Credit Suisse was valued at CHF 9 (£7.35) per share, a 34% increase from its current share price of CHF 6.72 (£5.48).
Credit Suisse would be valued at CHF 23 billion (£18.8 billion), which is incredibly close to State Street’s current valuation of $25.3 billion (£20.2 billion).
The outlet also indicated that Credit Suisse “would probably become a subsidiary of State Street, with a focus on Swiss universal banking and global private banking”. That being said, it’s very likely that the bank’s upper management will be replaced with executives from State Street as a result.
However, many analysts weren’t buying news of this potential purchase by State Street.
Currently, State Street owns a combined 20% ownership in every Fortune 500 business, along with BlackRock and Vanguard, and manages $3.9 trillion in client assets.
All three asset management firms have been vocally advocating for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, pressuring corporations in their management portfolios to make pledges and promises to implement projects such as DEI and sustainable energy commitments.
This means that any enterprises under their control will be required to combine business and political decisions. Back in 2021, according to Daily Wire, the three asset managers put three climate activists on Exxon Mobil’s 12-person board of directors1.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the author of “Woke Inc” shared a statement to Daily Wire:
“Consolidation in the asset management industry is part of what allows a small group of players to advance a monolithic ideology on the rest of corporate America,”
“ESG in many ways originated in Europe and is even stronger there than in the United States — so I think this is just a part of the continued trend of seeing ESG become a dominant transnational trend on both sides of the Atlantic,”he continues.
“The asset management industry — and the finance industry overall — is the one industry that’s upstream of all others, and why it has the greatest cultural influence of all,” Ramaswamy added.
Credit Suisse declined to comment, citing a recent interview with CEO Thomas Gottstein where he stated:
“We have a total focus on our strategy. We are at a valuation now where we have a lot of upside. If we deliver on our strategy, then our share price will follow, and that is what we are focused on.”
Credit Suisse recently announced its predictions to lose money this quarter due to events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising interest rates, and changing client flows.
Sources: Dailywire, Reuters, Citywireusa
