Joint Bid Considered for BankUnited: Report 02/10/09 - 04:17 AM EST
, BKUNA TSC Staff Investor Wilbur Ross and private equity group Carlyle are considering a joint bid for BankUnited Financial(BKUNA Quote - Cramer on BKUNA - Stock Picks), a troubled Florida-based bank, the Financial Times reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
More on BKUNA BankUnited Warning Prompts Downgrade Market Activity BankUnited Financial Corporation| BKUNA UPBankUnited said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing at the end of January that it hadn't been able to comply with a regulatory order to raise capital, and faced "enforcement action," which could include placing the bank into receivership. The bank made clear it was unable to raise capital during the fourth quarter of 2008 and meet the requirement of a regulatory order from the Office of Thrift Supervision to increase its tier-1 ratio to a minimum of 7% and risk-based capital ratio to 14%, TheStreet.com reported last month. BankUnited has about $14.5 billion in total assets.
It didn't return a call for comment from the Financial Times.
Carlyle has been among the more cautious private equity investors in making investments in financial companies, according to the Financial Times. Ross, by contrast, said he is looking at more than 100 banks after buying several mortgage servicing operations.
Nine months ago, another major private equity firm considered investing in BankUnited but decided against such a move, the newspaper reports, citing a person familiar with the firm's deliberations. But with "government guarantees and protection on the downside, we might reconsider," the person said.
Ross and Carlyle were conducting due diligence just as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday is reportedly set to reveal a plan that will include provisions that will allow the private sector to purchase bad assets on the balance sheets of troubled banks, considered to be the root problem of the financial crisis.
Posted by ldiaz117 on :
Yep it really spiked this morning then came down some. This one has some huge potential if buyout occurs. May wait for it to come down slightly though.
Posted by invester on :
Holly Crap!!!!!! $1.94 in cash. Tangible book value of $14.62 Earnings per share $2.14 Are you kidding me? I can't even believe where this is trading.
Per Share Data
EPS Normalized (MRFY) 2.14 Rev per share (TTM) 7.25 BV per share (MRQ) 16.14 Tangible BV per share (MRQ) 14.62 Cash per share (MRQ) 1.94 Cash flow per share (TTM) -- Indicated Annual Dividend (US) 0.02
Posted by greenman on :
Sweet!! Also, AIB was brought to my attention.
Posted by invester on :
Total Assets 15,046,271,000 Over $15 billion in assets. I just can't believe this one.
Posted by invester on :
BankUnited Financial Corporation operates as the holding company for BankUnited, FSB that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services to consumers and businesses located primarily in Florida. It offers various deposit products, including personal and commercial transaction accounts, money market accounts, other savings accounts, and time deposits. The company’s lending activities comprise one-to-four-family residential mortgage loans, including residential mortgages and specialty consumer mortgages; consumer loans consisting of home equity loans, lines of credit, and automobile, boat, and cash collateral loans; commercial real estate loans and multi-family loans; real estate construction loans; land loans; secured and unsecured commercial business loans; and investments and mortgage-backed securities. It also offers investment, retirement planning, insurance, and financial planning services. In addition, the company offers automated teller machines, telebanking, and Internet banking services. As of November 12, 2007, it operated 86 branches, 2 loan production offices, and 7 offices outside of Florida. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.
Posted by invester on :
During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007 (fiscal 2007), BankUnited had assets of $15billion, net loan portfolio of $12.6 billion, liabilities of $14.2 billion including deposits of $7.1 billion and stockholders’ equity of $812 million.
$812 million in stock equity
That’s $23 a share. You gotta love this one.
Posted by invester on :
I bought 15k shares. I see this at $2 or so.
Posted by invester on :
Already gapped to .37 .40 If it weren’t for the huge down day, this would have been at .70 or so.
Posted by invester on :
Ross, Carlyle eye rescue bid for BankUnited - FT Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:05am EST Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text [+] Market News Stocks sink over 4 percent on bank plan apprehension | Video Oil falls 5 percent on demand, U.S. stimulus concerns Nvidia fourth quarter results miss views, shares fall More Business & Investing News... Feb 10 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross and the Carlyle [CYL.UL] private equity group are considering a joint bid for BankUnited Financial Corp (BKUNA.O), the Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The two investors were conducting due diligence as Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury secretary, prepared a financial sector rescue plan that would seek to induce private capital to pursue deals for distressed financial institutions and assets, the newspaper said.
Bank deals could have a growing appeal for private equity groups, which are facing big obstacles in securing the financing they need to make big leveraged buyouts, the paper said.
Florida-based BankUnited Financial is a troubled bank with $14 billion in assets, the newspaper said.
Carlyle has been among the more cautious private equity investors in making investments in financial companies, the FT said.
By contrast, Ross said he is looking at more than 100 banks after buying several mortgage servicing operations, the newspaper added.
BankUnited, Carlyle and Wilbur Ross could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Hans Peters)
Posted by invester on :
I can't even imagine finding a company that Carlyle wants to buy, but distressed investor Wilbur Ross as well. This is a late Christmas gift.
Posted by JOELGA on :
Anyone know what the situation is at the moment on BankUnited?
Posted by invester on :
This can't be right. $14 a share buyout? I must be missing something.
DJ BankUnited Nears $500M Buyout Deal By Pvt-Equity Grp -Report
. DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
A private-equity investment group led by Vanquish Capital Group LLC appears close to buying troubled Florida-based thrift BankUnited Financial Corp. (BKUNA), American Banker reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Vanquish, of Delray Beach, Fla., and deal partners W.L. Ross & Co. LLC and Cerberus Capital Management LP have agreed to invest $500 million for majority control of BankUnited, which has $14.2 billion in assets. Under terms to be finalized, toxic assets - mainly payment option adjustable-rate mortgages, which let borrowers defer interest payments - would be removed from BankUnited's balance sheet and placed in a vehicle co-run by Vanquish. Neither firm returned messages seeking comment on the deal.
BankUnited warned in December that it could fail if it did not raise capital quickly. It had agreed to a cease-and-desist order from the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision in September, without admitting wrongdoing.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 15, 2009 08:11 ET (13:11 GMT)
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Posted by JOELGA on :
I don't see a $14 per share buy out happening, but I would not complain. Probably in the 2-3 dollar range is a guess for me.
Posted by JOELGA on :
I believe Friday is going to be an interesting day for this one.
Posted by invester on :
quote:Originally posted by JOELGA: I don't see a $14 per share buy out happening, but I would not complain. Probably in the 2-3 dollar range is a guess for me.
Divide $500 million by 35 million shares outstanding. Roughly $14. They may have worked something else out, but that is the normal sequence of events. The banking sector is far from normal these days. LoL.
Posted by JOELGA on :
I hear you...I did the math as well but I think there will be a price to pay for placing these toxic assets off of the balance sheets. What that price is...who knows.
Hopefully we are fortunate to find out.
Posted by greenman on :
Gapping way down in pre market. I'm losing my azz here on this one so far.
Posted by metal1 on :
WSJ report that bid won't get govt backing.
Posted by JOELGA on :
Yep...I sold out today at .23 Think this one is cooked if the govt doesnt step in. Carlyle wont get involved without their backing
Posted by metal1 on :
quote:Originally posted by invester:
quote:Originally posted by JOELGA: I don't see a $14 per share buy out happening, but I would not complain. Probably in the 2-3 dollar range is a guess for me.
Divide $500 million by 35 million shares outstanding. Roughly $14. They may have worked something else out, but that is the normal sequence of events. The banking sector is far from normal these days. LoL.
yeah, this looked like a good old take under from the beginning. a $500 million investment into a company with 10 million market cap and about to crumble wouldn't have much premium if any.
Posted by invester on :
.59
Posted by invester on :
.83
Posted by invester on :
quote:Originally posted by metal1:
quote:Originally posted by invester:
quote:Originally posted by JOELGA: I don't see a $14 per share buy out happening, but I would not complain. Probably in the 2-3 dollar range is a guess for me.
Divide $500 million by 35 million shares outstanding. Roughly $14. They may have worked something else out, but that is the normal sequence of events. The banking sector is far from normal these days. LoL.
yeah, this looked like a good old take under from the beginning. a $500 million investment into a company with 10 million market cap and about to crumble wouldn't have much premium if any.
Nice call METAL1 LoL
$1.00 After Hours. I sure am glad I've trusted my judgment on every call I've made over the past year as I'm over two commas in my portfolio now. How are you doing?
Posted by cassity on :
Bought this at .30 two weeks ago. Over 100% in less than a month. Up to .99 after hours.. Posted by invester on :
Well, actually 300% if one knows math
Posted by invester on :
"Better to burn out than to faid away" Niel Young. LoL
Posted by invester on :
$1.63 LMAO!!!!!
Posted by invester on :
I'm up over 400%
Posted by invester on :
Out A/H at $1.66
Posted by jdizz on :
damn dood.. share a little lol
Posted by invester on :
quote:Originally posted by jdizz: damn dood.. share a little lol
What's the rumor about a $5.00 buyout?
Posted by invester on :
Back in $1.22
Posted by invester on :
Out at $1.29, it looks crowded.
Posted by cassity on :
Hey invester, what's your take on this now? Do you think they'll still offer a $ figure for the shares? I sold at 1.2, but I'm considering buying in again.
Posted by invester on :
quote:Originally posted by cassity: Hey invester, what's your take on this now? Do you think they'll still offer a $ figure for the shares? I sold at 1.2, but I'm considering buying in again.
No way, they need to raise $1 billion. My take is that they go into bankruptcy and PE takes them over for free.
Posted by invester on :
CALLED IT!!!The office of THRIFT just closed Bank United. I knew that billion would kill them.
Posted by invester on :
BankUnited fails; private-equity firms snap up assets Florida-based lender succumbs in largest bank failure of 2009Explore related topics Banks BankUnited Financial Corp Blackstone Group LP (The) Goldman Sachs Group Inc Story Quotes Comments (47) Alert Email Print ShareBy Alistair Barr, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- BankUnited Financial, the largest lender based in Florida, was shut down by banking regulators and sold to a group of private-equity firms, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said late Thursday.
The seizure is the 34th bank failure so far this year and the biggest.
The Office of Thrift Supervision closed BankUnited /quotes/comstock/15*!bkuna/quotes/nls/bkuna (BKUNA 0.45, -0.04, -8.57%) on Thursday and appointed the FDIC as receiver. BankUnited shares fell 8.6% in after-hours trading before being halted.
BankUnited will reopen Friday under a management team led by John Kanas, the former chief executive of North Fork Bank.
The new owners include distressed debt specialist WL Ross & Co.; Carlyle Investment Management L.L.C.; Blackstone Capital Partners V L.P. /quotes/comstock/13*!bx/quotes/nls/bx (BX 10.84, +0.06, +0.56%) ; Centerbridge Capital Partners L.P.; LeFrak Organization Inc; The Wellcome Trust; Greenaap Investments Ltd.; and East Rock Endowment Fund, the FDIC said.
Florida banks have been hit hard by the real estate slump, which has the potential to linger for longer in the Sunshine state. BankUnited was undone by a foray into option adjustable-rate mortgages during the housing boom earlier this decade. Its troubles have been known for several months, but because of the potential value of its Florida franchise, regulators took time to line up as many bidders for the bank's assets as possible. See related story.
"This has been a long time coming and there have been a lot of questions about why it wasn't done earlier," said Kenneth Thomas, a banking expert and economist based in Miami, Fla. "The good news is that this deal brings in a lot of capital and the bank's going to continue operating, hopefully without skipping a beat."
BankUnited is based in Coral Gables, Fla., and has more than 80 branches in the state, including several in Miami.
Thomas said he saw no signs of a run on BankUnited branches in Miami on Thursday.
"The government shopped it around in a very orderly way," he said.
Private-equity enters the fray The deal is important because bank regulators have been reluctant to let private-equity firms own banks in the past.
"Due to the interest of private equity firms in the purchase of depository institutions in receivership, the FDIC has been evaluating the appropriate terms for such investments," the regulator said in a statement.
"In the near future, the FDIC will provide generally applicable policy guidance on eligibility and other terms and conditions for such investments to guide potential investors," it said.
The private-equity group, headed by Wilbur Ross's WL Ross, is putting $900 million of new capital into BankUnited.
The group will take on almost all of BankUnited's $12.8 billion in assets. The FDIC said it will share losses on $10.7 billion of those assets with the private-equity firms.
The group will also assume $8.3 billion of deposits, out of a total of $8.6 billion, the FDIC said. The remaining $348 million of deposits were collected by brokers and the FDIC is paying those brokers directly.
BankUnited's failure will cost the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund $4.9 billion. The bank regulator said the deal with the Ross-led group was the "least costly" solution for the fund.
"That's a big number," Thomas said, but he noted it could have been more without the commitment of new capital from the private-equity firms.
"Other banks didn't show up," he added. "These were the only ones to show up and they brought $900 million with them. That's $900 million less that the taxpayer will have to shoulder."
The deal could encourage more purchases of failed banks by private-equity firms as the FDIC looks for ways to sell seized institutions without depleting its insurance fund too much.
"The name of the game is private capital," Thomas aid. "There are probably tens of billions of dollars on the side lines from these groups. Why would we not consider them as a source of capital?"
Goldman Sachs /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 137.25, +0.09, +0.07%) and TD Bank /quotes/comstock/13*!td/quotes/nls/td (TD 42.95, +0.24, +0.57%) were reportedly considering a joint bid for BankUnited. It's not clear whether they entered a bid. Alistair Barr is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
Posted by invester on :
I hope you got my post in time Cassity.
Posted by cassity on :
quote:Originally posted by invester: I hope you got my post in time Cassity.
Sure did, I had a very small position (4000 shares) on Tuesday that I bought at .75 and sold them AH on Tuesday night at .60. Figured there was no point in losing all of it. Made about 400% off this bad boy from .31 to 1.20's range..can't complain..GLTY
Posted by invester on :
quote:Originally posted by cassity:
quote:Originally posted by invester: I hope you got my post in time Cassity.
Sure did, I had a very small position (4000 shares) on Tuesday that I bought at .75 and sold them AH on Tuesday night at .60. Figured there was no point in losing all of it. Made about 400% off this bad boy from .31 to 1.20's range..can't complain..GLTY
Posted by invester on :
Damn they went cheap, and to late to be that cheap if I must say. The credit markets have thawed. They had almost $30 billion in assets and they couldn't secure a $1 billion loan from anyone? Anyone???? I thought we lived in a democracy. I tell ya, after Hank Paulson, I've changed my views for a while.
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