Genworth Financial Inc., a Richmond, Va., insurer seeking to qualify for government capital by acquiring a troubled Minneapolis thrift, said Thursday that the deal is still on.
Genworth announced last month that it had agreed to acquire the $895 million-asset Inter Savings Bank. The deal hinges on Genworth's receiving approval to participate in the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Genworth missed a Jan. 15 deadline Treasury set for publicly traded companies to be approved as bank or thrift holding companies and be eligible for a capital infusion. But Al Orendorff, a Genworth spokesman, said that no decision has been made on whether that would disqualify the company.
William Ruberry, a spokesman for the Office of Thrift Supervision, said Thursday that the agency is still reviewing Genworth's application to become a thrift holding company and acquire Inter Savings. He said a request was made to Treasury for an extension of the Jan. 15 deadline and a decision is pending.
Other insurance companies with similar plans received the required holding company approval by the deadline, but none have been awarded Tarp funds yet.
