Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG)

[2create]

Nice!...Fortress, others take-aim at Florida bank -- FT

On watch to add/buy here; new pending catalyst deal; currently priced below recent successful follow-on offering and related insider buying @ $5.00/share

I believe this will gain nice traction in near term ...now forming techical next-leg up and trading to close above its' 200 MA again. 3-month Chart looks positioned for strong move upward, may re-test recent highs with new fundamentals as good catalyst with significant deal-development potential ahead.

Preliminary NEWS (Today) -- 05-28-2008
NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N), one of the world's largest private equity and hedge fund managers, and other investors are near an agreement to acquire control of a Florida retail bank, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the transaction.

Under a deal, which could be announced Thursday, Fortress and other investors including Crestview Partners and Lightyear Capital will inject $800 million of capital into First Southern Bancorp Inc (FSOF.PK), a community bank with less than $400 million of assets, the newspaper said.

The people familiar with the transaction, whose names were not given, said First Southern has a clean balance sheet and would be a good vehicle for consolidating other banks. Fortress spokeswoman Lilly Donohue did not return calls seeking comment.

Fortress founders Wes Edens and Pete Briger are veterans of the last banking crisis 20 years ago, snapping up assets at distressed prices following the collapse of U.S. savings & loan industry in the early 1990s.

A few days ago a different group of private equity firms acquired Florida's BankUnited Financial Corp (BKUNA.O) in an auction from U.S. government regulators. Five months ago, private investors bought the assets of failed bank IndyMac from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The First Southern deal does not involve any government support, although it will require regulatory approval, FT reported. Investors in BankUnited have a loss-sharing agreement with the U.S. government.

Fortress plans to install Eugene Taylor, a former Fleet Financial and Bank of America executive, as First Southern's chief executive, the paper said. (Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
--------------------------------------------------------------

Good day gentlemen.