BankUnited Adds a Dozen Branches in Six Weeks

BankUnited Inc. in Miami Lakes, Fla., opened three new branches on both Florida coasts Monday and now has opened a dozen branches in its home state since Nov. 7.

The branch expansion is part of a broad plan to quickly deploy capital raised in its $783 million public offering earlier this year to increase market share, particularly in the area of commercial lending. The $10.9 billion-asset company has also been aggressively hiring lenders away from competitors and is also expanding into the New York City market by acquiring the Herald National Bank.

"We are aggressively building BankUnited," Chairman, President and Chief Executive John A. Kanas said in a news release Monday. "We plan to grow as Florida's economy continues to rebound and have made commercial lending a primary focus."

The branches it opened Monday are in Tampa, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. In all, BankUnited has opened 16 branches in 2011 throughout the state and intends to open one more, in Orlando, on Dec. 30. It now has more than 90 branches in 14 Florida counties.