Mr Cooper Group Inc (COOP)

[AZCowboy]

~ LOL … “just sayin’ … LOL ~

Reuters’ …. circa: 2008

https://www.reuters.com/article/washingtonmutual-torontodominion-idUSN2332447520080923

PHILADELPHIA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank TD.TO is weighing a bid for all or part of Washington Mutual Inc WM.N, joining a mix of suitors eyeing a takeover of the U.S. savings and loan, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

TD Bank may bid as part of a group, or may pursue an acquisition of any assets or branches that get divested if another bidder wins the hand of Washington Mutual, the source said.

Ed Clark, president and CEO of TD Bank, said earlier this month that he was “extremely cautious” about U.S. assets and the company was “in pause” while it integrated its previous acquisition of Commerce Bank.

“If everything was OK, Washington Mutual looks like it would be a great franchise and in fact it would probably be quite consistent with what TD would like to build in the U.S.,” said Michael Goldberg, an analyst with Desjardins Securities in Toronto.

Others weighing possible takeover bids for Washington Mutual include Banco Santander SA SAN.MC, Citigroup Inc C.N and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co JPM.N, the source said.

HSBC Holdings Plc HSBA.L and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N also have looked at Washington Mutual, other sources told Reuters last week.

Washington Mutual, which has been hurt by mortgage losses, continues to explore all options, such as talking to potential buyers or raising capital, according to the source who named TD Bank as a suitor.

U.S. regulators also could purchase WaMu’s riskier assets, making it easier for another bank to buy the rest, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“I don’t think that they’d (TD Bank) have any interest unless there was some assistance from the U.S. government to take over problem assets, in a good bank/bad bank scenario,” Goldberg said. “If that happened, there could be lots of people interested.”

Toronto-Dominion, J.P. Morgan and Citi declined to comment. Banco Santander, HSBC and Wells Fargo could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Jessica Hall; additional reporting by Lynne Olver in Toronto and Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; editing by John Wallace)

… LOL … ;)

just sayin’

AZ