Shares of Flagstar Bancorp Inc. soared Friday after the company announced that it would bypass shareholder approval for a placement of private capital that hinges on its ability to get money from the Treasury.
The $14.2 billion-asset company in Troy, Mich., announced late Wednesday that the New York Stock Exchange had accepted its application to skip a shareholder vote on a $250 million investment by an affiliate of MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, a New York investment firm.
"The delay necessary in securing shareholder approval for the consummation of the stock issuance would seriously jeopardize the financial viability of Flagstar," the company said in a press release.
The company also said in its release that the MatlinPatterson investment is needed to obtain the $266 million it has requested from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. It gained preliminary approval Wednesday.
The company said that stock could be issued to MatlinPatterson 10 days after Flagstar sends a letter to shareholders explaining the circumstances. Observers said organizing a shareholder meeting could have taken months.
"The company was saying it may not have months to wait," said Terry McEvoy, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. "There is clearly a sense of urgency and importance here."
Mr. McEvoy said that, despite the massive dilution the private placement will cause, investors are no longer questioning whether Flagstar will survive. The Michigan company, an active mortgage lender, lost $56.9 million in the third quarter and last month was told by the New York Stock Exchange that it was in danger of being delisted because its shares had traded at less than $1 for at least 30 days in a row.
Flagstar closed at $1.09 on Friday, up 53.5%.
