RIP Shareholders – UBS offers to buy Credit Suisse for up to $1bn.

https://www.ft.com/content/ec4be743-052a-4381-a923-c2fbd7ea9cfd

UBS has offered to buy Credit Suisse for up to $1bn, with Swiss authorities planning to change the country’s laws to bypass a shareholder vote on the transaction as they rush to finalise a deal before Monday.

The all-share deal between Switzerland’s two biggest banks is set to be signed as soon as Sunday evening and will be priced at a fraction of Credit Suisse’s closing price on Friday, all but wiping out the target’s shareholders, four people with direct knowledge of the situation said.

The offer was communicated on Sunday morning with a price of SFr0.25 a share to be paid in UBS stock, far below Credit Suisse’s closing price of SFr1.86 on Friday, the people said. UBS has also insisted on a material adverse change that voids the deal if its credit default spreads jump by 100 basis points or more, they added