First Republic worries grow as FDIC asks banks for bids by Sunday to avoid bailout

Beleaguered bank First Republic is now facing buyout bids after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation sought to arrange suitors Saturday following a hollowing out of the bank’s share price amid several weeks of market turmoil, multiple outlets reported.

First Republic Bank is the latest financial institution to come under stress following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history.

The San Francisco-based bank, which had $212 billion in assets at the end of last year, has seen its stock price plummet 87 percent over the last two weeks as large depositors pulled their funds.

First Republic came into the crosshairs of larger competitors this week after worries about the banking sector continued to target the company following the collapse of fellow community institution Silicon Valley Bank last month.

Events have moved quickly in the last 24 hours to shore up the market’s confidence in the banking sector, including reports since Friday evening that the FDIC has been shopping First Republic around to JPMorgan Chase & Co., US Bancorp, Bank of America Corp. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Now, sources are saying the FDIC has given any interested buyers until Sunday to submit final bids for First Republic, as it attempts to unwind the bank’s assets in an orderly fashion before Asian and American markets begin trading at the end of the weekend.

A buyout by another financial institution would help regulators avoid the type of bailout offered to Silicon Valley Bank when it fell apart in mid-March.

That effort quickly came under intense criticism from the public and legislators alike.

–Riley Gutiérrez McDermid

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

What happened to First Republic Bank?
The bank runs that sparked the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank have investors and depositors worried that First Republic could be the next domino to fall.