I do think that's a fair point in general, and one that I'd neglected above--lots of marginally insolvent banks have been rescued in exactly that way, with an a

I do think that's a fair point in general, and one that I'd neglected above--lots of marginally insolvent banks have been rescued in exactly that way, with an acquirer paying a premium for the value of the business, not just the financial assets. The mark-to-market hole at the SVB was pretty deep though, and their depositor base had just made itself look particularly unattractive. So maybe the FDIC will eventually manage to find a buyer, but it indeed looks pretty hard.