Here is an old news,but you can see a lot of familiar names
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By Megan Davies and Jessica Hall
NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Struggling
savings and loan Washington Mutual Inc <WM.N> is still talking
to buyers about selling itself, but first needs to hammer out
whether it or the buyer would get government support.
Banks still circling all of WaMu include Citigroup Inc
<C.N>, JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, HSBC Holdings Plc <HSBA.L>
and Wells Fargo & Co <WFC.N>, while Toronto-Dominion Bank
<TD.TO> is looking at pieces, according to sources familiar
with the situation.
There is also private-equity interest from Blackstone Group
LP <BX.N> and Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], which could team up with
Texas billionaire and bank investor Gerald J. Ford, a source
said.
Spain's Banco Santander SA <SAN.MC> has withdrawn as a
suitor, one of the sources said.
Sources previously had told Reuters that regulators are
eager for the giant savings and loan to forge a deal, but no
deadline or requirement has been placed on the bank to accept a
takeover offer or split itself among several suitors.
The main auction has been slowed as the government talks to
potential suitors about possible financial support for a deal.
However, the pressure is on to strike a deal for the
troubled Seattle-based thrift amid continued uncertainty in the
financial sector.
WaMu's shares were 47 cents or 20.8 percent lower at $1.79
on Thursday afternoon.
WaMu came under further pressure on Wednesday when Standard
& Poor's slashed its credit rating deep into "junk" territory.
The thrift replaced its chief executive this month after
suffering losses totaling $6.3 billion over the previous three
quarters.
It has projected $19 billion in mortgage-related losses
through 2011, but analysts have said credit losses could reach
$30 billion.
Complicating the sale process is what to do with the
thrift's $227 billion book of real estate loans, more than half
of which consists of home equity loans, option adjustable-rate
mortgages, and subprime mortgages.
It was not immediately clear how much of WaMu's troubled
loans might be eligible for Washington's $700 billion financial
industry bailout program.
WaMu has a significant presence in California and Florida,
two of the states hardest hit by the nation's housing crisis.
But its 2,239-branch network could appeal to many lenders
looking to expand in retail banking, especially in the western
United States and the New York City area.
WaMu ended August with $143 billion in retail deposits --
roughly triple the size of the entire Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp fund that backs customer deposits.It has also said it
expects to end the quarter with a "well-capitalized" status
well in excess of federal minimums.
WaMu, Toronto-Dominion Bank, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and
could not immediately be reached for comment. Blackstone and
Carlyle declined comment.