Overall, as part of the capital increase, the big bank will receive CHF 2.24 billion or even a little more, as the big bank announced on Thursday evening. In this way, it increased its capital by approximately CHF 4 billion in two steps.
As part of the capital increase, existing shareholders were able to commit new CS shares at CHF 2.52. They received one subscription right per share, and seven subscription rights gave them the right to purchase two new shares. CS shares closed at CHF 2,942 on Thursday evening.
According to the announcement, CS shareholders subscribed to 873 million of the 889 million newly issued shares. They can be traded on the Swiss stock exchange from Friday (tomorrow). This left only 16.4 million new shares still being sought in the market.
CS CEO Ulrich Körner sees the successful completion of the capital increase as a “significant milestone” for the “new” Credit Suisse. The Bank has made significant progress in the implementation of strategic measures in recent weeks.
Credit Suisse had raised another CHF 1.76 billion at the end of November through a capital increase from a group of qualified investors. These include the Saudi National Bank (SNB), which is now Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder with a targeted 9.9 percent stake.
Credit Suisse needs new capital to finance the massive restructuring announced at the end of October. The loss-making investment bank unit will be significantly downsized and partially outsourced. In addition, the workforce is planned to be reduced from about 52,000 to about 43,000 employees by 2025.
The big bank has been badly hit since the fiasco surrounding the multibillion-dollar collapse of the Archegos hedge fund in 2021 and the liquidation of the Greensill funds. After last year’s high loss, it is likely to finish 2022 in the red. In recent months, it has also had to deal with massive outflows of client funds.
(SDA)