PE Firms Exit BankUnited Investment

M&A

BankUnited to Strengthen M&A Buying Power After Stock Offering

BankUnited looked like a seller last year, but a secondary offering of nearly 20 million shares will let PE profit and should arm BankUnited with a more valuable currency for buying banks.

By Robert Barba

March 6
Community banking

BankUnited's Private-Equity Investors to Sell $291M of Stock

Four shareholders of BankUnited (BKU) in Miami Lakes, Fla., plan to sell up to $291 million of common stock.

By Sarah Todd

January 29
Community banking

BankUnited in Fla. Preps $330M Secondary Offering

Shareholders of BankUnited (BKU) in Miami Lakes, Fla., are preparing to sell more than $330 million of the company's stock.

By Chris Cumming

October 28

Four private-equity investors have sold their remaining stakes in BankUnited (BKU) in Miami Lakes, Fla., for almost $393 million.

Investment funds affiliated with the Blackstone Group, the Carlyle Group, WL Ross & Co. and Centerbridge Partners sold roughly 11.9 million shares of common stock for $33.15 per share, the $14.9 billion-asset BankUnited said Friday. That was less than the $33.50 that had been anticipated last week.

BankUnited did not receive any proceeds from the offering.

Large BankUnited shareholders started selling off their stock last March for hundreds of millions of dollars. Moving the company's stock from being concentrated in the hands insiders and private equity to a more normal shareholder base would mean an increased number of shares available for trading, John Kanas, chief executive at BankUnited, said at the time. This could lead to more liquidity and a higher valuation.

Goldman Sachs was the underwriter for the secondary offering.

Jackie Stewart

Executive Editor, American Banker Magazine

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