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FRIDAY JULY 25
Banks: Hot, Even When They’re Not? Or so it seems, as private-equity firms and hedge funds practically lick their lips with anticipation in cherry-picking choice banks that may have recently taken a beating, but still retain some polish. With the stocks of certain institutions rebounding, banks more interested in forging deals and regulators simultaneously easing the restrictions that have complicated such transactions in the past, here’s the who’s who of which banks are being isolated as top investment picks. July 2008Capital-hungry banks are suddenly attracting new interest from private-equity firms and hedge funds. At least two private-equity firms are considering investments in BankUnited Financial Corp., based in Coral Gables, Fla., which is saddled with a large portfolio of adjustable-rate mortgages, according to people familiar with the situation. MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC and Kelso & Co. are conducting due diligence on BankUnited and consulting with regulators, these people said. MatlinPatterson, which rescued Thornburg Mortgage Inc. from the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year with an infusion giving the New York private-equity firm a 40% stake in the home-mortgage finance company, also is weighing pumping money into Downey Financial Corp., of Newport Beach, Calif. The thrift operator, pummeled by falling home prices, said Thursday that it is exploring strategic alternatives "to address the challenges faced by the company in the current environment." Downey also posted a quarterly net loss of $218.9 million, or $7.86 a share, and announced the abrupt retirements of its chairman, who founded the company more than 50 years ago, and chief executive. It isn't clear if any of the potential investments will materialize. Downey declined to comment on a private-equity infusion, and representatives of MatlinPatterson and BankUnited couldn't be reached. A spokesman at Kelso, also based in New York, declined to comment.
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