SVB Financial nears deal to sell VC arm, Scaramucci leading bidder - WSJ

(Reuters) - SVB Financial Group is closing in on an agreement to sell its venture-capital and credit investment business SVB Capital in order to avoid bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

A duo of Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital and Atlas Merchant Capital, as well as San Francisco private-equity firm Vector Capital, are the two front-runners competing in the bidding process for SVB Capital, the report added.

SVB Financial did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The bankrupt group in June said it was still looking for strategic alternatives for SVB Capital, days after the company agreed to sell its investment banking division, SVB Securities, to a group led by the segment's CEO.

SVB Financial had collapsed into bankruptcy after former unit Silicon Valley Bank's failure in March triggered the worst U.S. banking crisis in 15 years.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)