BankUnited Financial Corporation (fka BKUNQ)

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Feds extend deadline for resolving BankUnited's future
Federal regulators, faced with potentially huge taxpayer losses, extended a deadline for resolving BankUnited's future.

BY MARTHA BRANNIGAN
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Federal regulators have decided to take more time to figure out how best to resolve BankUnited's future.

The ailing Coral Gables thrift is under federal regulatory orders to merge or find a buyer to strengthen its financial underpinnings, but a federal government deadline to do so came and went this week with no clearer picture of BankUnited's fate.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. extended until May 14 the deadline for prospective investors or buyers of the thrift to submit their bids -- a two-week extension -- according to two people familiar with the situation. Spokesmen for the FDIC and the Office of Thrift Supervision declined to comment, as did a bank spokeswoman.

Amid the reprieve, shares of BankUnited Financial Corp., the thrift's parent company, soared 64 percent Friday to close at 46 cents on NASDAQ.

That spike came even though the company's equity has been wiped out and experts say it's difficult to imagine an outcome in which shareholder equity isn't extinguished. Account deposits are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC.

BankUnited, which has been hit hard by the steep downturn in the housing market and Florida's economy, set its annual shareholder meeting for Monday at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, but it hasn't detailed its agenda.

At least three different scenarios are in the works as federal regulators look for the least expensive way to deal with BankUnited, which the government says is ``critically undercapitalized.'

Ramiro Ortiz, BankUnited's chief executive, is continuing a quest for new capital to revive the bank, the largest Florida-based financial institution. Virtually any new investor would require that the government shoulder much of the bank's losses. So far, the government hasn't shown a willingness to inject fresh capital into the still open bank. However, BankUnited has been arguing that would be the least expensive route for taxpayers.

Meanwhile, at least two outside investor groups are interested in bidding for BankUnited, whose large deposit base and 85 branches in Florida provide a rare opportunity to make a big entry into an important banking market.

'We believe that this is potentially a very valuable franchise and this can become the foundation for a very important Florida bank,' said John Kanas, a senior advisor with WL Ross & Co., one of the expected bidders. ``If we are successful, we intend to engage a number of management people who are at BankUnited and support their strategy and build a vibrant institution. There really hasn't been an important Florida franchise since Barnett Banks was acquired.'

WL Ross & Co., founded by distressed-asset specialist Wilbur Ross Jr., is working on a joint bid with private equity giants, the Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group.

Kanas, former chairman and chief executive of North Fork Bancorp, a $59-billion asset bank holding company in Melville, N.Y., that was acquired by Capital One Financial Corp. in 2006, joined WL Ross & Co. last year with the specific portfolio of helping it acquire and manage ailing financial institutions.

A second expected bidder group includes TD Bank, which already has a major base in Florida, and Goldman Sachs, the New York investment bank. Both bidder groups would expect the federal government to assume a significant portion of BankUnited's bad loans.

Ken Thomas, a Miami banking analyst, said the bank's main value lies in its branch network in South Florida and its deposits, as well as the tax-loss carryforwards that a buyer could use to reduce future taxes. He figures the bank is worth about $500 million in franchise value.

Ross, a 71-year-old Palm Beach billionaire who has investments in various industries, has had his eye on Florida banking for some time. He bought a controlling stake in First Bank & Trust Co. of Indiantown earlier this year.

Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group established a Global Financial Services Group in June 2007 and in August 2008 invested $75 million in wealth management firm Boston Private Financial Holdings.

Spokesmen for TD Bank and Goldman Sachs declined to comment Friday on their interest in BankUnited. Spokesmen for Blackstone and Carlyle have also declined to comment.

BankUnited's plight started coming to a head on April 14, when the Office of Thrift Supervision gave it 15 days to merge or find a buyer. The order, known as a 'Prompt Corrective Action Directive,' required BankUnited to help federal regulators to market the institution to buyers. But regulators also said the time frame could be expanded as needed.