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The choice of private equity's Edward Grebow to lead the union-owned Amalgamated Bank might still be considered an odd coupling — if the deficit-laden institution wasn't bleeding out profits and capital.
May 5
Two private-equity groups have agreed to invest a combined $100 million in a union-owned, New York bank that intends to use the proceeds to beef up its lending.
The $4.4 billion-asset Amalgamated Bank said Monday that affiliates of Yucaipa Cos. and WL Ross & Co. LLC have each agreed to invest $50 million in the bank through the purchase of Amalgamated common stock.
Upon completion of the transactions later this year, Yucaipa and WL Ross would each own a 20% stake in Amalgamated.
The investments would fulfill a promise Amalgamated's new chief executive made earlier this year to boost the bank's capital ratios with investments from private-equity groups.
Though Amalgamated already is already well capitalized, President and CEO Edward Grebow
Before joining Amalgamated earlier this year, Grebow was a managing director at the private-equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co.
In a news release Monday, Grebow said that the additional capital "will enable us to further expand our lending capacity and pursue key strategic initiatives that will drive additional revenue growth."
