BankUnited is planning an initial public offering 15 months after the Florida lender collapsed and was acquired by investors including Carlyle Group and WL Ross & Co., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The bank, which is also owned by Blackstone Group LP and Centerbridge Capital Partners, selected underwriters including Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, said the people, who declined to be identified.
BankUnited was shut by federal regulators and sold to the buyout group in May 2009. John Kanas, the former head of North Fork Bancorp, was named BankUnited's chief executive officer.
Spokesmen for BankUnited, Blackstone, Carlyle and the banks would not discuss a possible IPO. Representatives for Centerbridge and WL Ross didn't return e-mails seeking comment.
BankUnited investors injected $900 million into the institution as part of the agreement with the FDIC, which estimated at the time that the collapse would cost its insurance fund $4.9 billion. The lender had $11.5 billion of assets as of March 31.
BankUnited's investors agreed with the FDIC to a provision that prevented a sale of a controlling stake in the bank for 18 months. As part of the BankUnited transaction, the FDIC holds a warrant that allows it to buy shares of the bank at a discount in the event of an IPO or sale.
