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A judge's ruling against the sale of BankAtlantic to BB&T could also empower holders of trust preferred securities to play a bigger role in M&A.
February 28 -
PNC appears to be willing to pay up to expand on Florida's west coast, entering into a deal to buy 19 branches and $350 million of deposits from BankAtlantic at a 10% premium.
January 31
The judge who
Levan rebuffed a more workable but less lucrative offer than it would later accept from BB&T, Laster wrote in his 57-page order. The high price Levan felt he got in
"In a moment of probably part stupidity, part ego, I said, ‘Well, I'll sell it to you at 10% premium,'" Levan testified about his talks with PNC, the order said. "Nobody had gotten a 10% premium in this country for deposits in four years, and our other two bids were 2% and 4%."
The deal with PNC "inspired" Levan to craft a complicated deal to sell the bank that excluded certain problem assets, Laster's order said. He sought a 10% premium in the latter deal, too, the order said.
Nine companies expressed an interest, but three of those said they needed more time to consider, the order said.
Besides the investor issues, Laster also raised concerns about the payout Levan would have received. At closing the top three BankAtlantic executives would have received a combined $10 million in severance -- an amount greater than the company's total book value at Sept. 30, the order said.
"Through the sale transaction, Levan extracted personal consideration for himself and other insiders, moving them to the head of the line," Laster said.
Calls to Levan were not returned Thursday.