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Trend Setter

BankUnited, Miami Lakes, Fla., $11.3 billion in assets

In early 2009, John A. Kanas got the private-equity ball rolling when he raised $900 million from firms such as Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and W.L. Ross & Co. to buy BankUnited from the FDIC. Since then, BankUnited has gone public and announced a bank acquisition in New York. (Image: Bloomberg News)

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Regional Consolidator

North American Financial Holdings Inc., Miami, $6.7 billion in assets

Gene Taylor, a former Bank of America executive, has cast a wide net across the Southeast since raising $900 million in 2009. The company has bought majority stakes in three struggling banks and picked up three failed banks. In June, it announced plans to go public, rebranding all its branches as “Capital Bank.”

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Florida Roll-Ups

Bond Street Holdings Inc., Miami, $3.1 billion

Through Florida Community Bank, Bond Street has been the go-to company for failed banks in Florida with eight deals, starting with Premier American Bank in 2010. The company, initially backed by $740 million raised in a blind pool, said in January it plans to go public. Daniel Healy, Premier American’s CEO, once worked with Kanas at North Fork Bancorp. (Image: ThinkStock)

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Scouting Banks in the West

NBH Holdings Corp., Boston, $5 billion

When others went to the Southeast, NBH headed West. The company, which raised $1 billion through a private placement in late 2009, bought a bank in Kansas and has struck deals with the FDIC for failed banks in Kansas and Colorado. In November, NBH filed preliminary paperwork to go public. (Image: ThinkStock)

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Plans for Coastal Juggernaut

Opus Bank, Irvine, Calif., $2.4 billion

In the fall of 2010, Stephen Gordon led a $460 million recapitalization of Bay Cities National Bank, renaming it Opus Bank in hopes of building a West Coast powerhouse. He has wasted no time; in less than a year, Opus has laid out an extensive branching strategy and announced two acquisitions. The largest was for the $1.5 billion-asset Cascade Financial Corp. in Everett, Wash.

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Looking Beyond Michigan

Talmer Bank and Trust, Troy, Mich., $2.2 billion

In 2010, billionaire Wilbur Ross led a $400 million infusion into the tiny, but ambitious, First Michigan Bank in Troy. Since then, the bank has grown from $75 million in assets to $2.2 billion after buying three failures in Michigan and one in Wisconsin. The bank changed its name to Talmer in April to reflect aspirations beyond its home state. (Image: Bloomberg News)

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Selective Acquirer

CertusHoldings Inc., Easley, S.C., $1.8 billion

Formerly Blue Ridge Holdings, the company raised $500 million through a blind pool then waited a year after receiving regulatory approval to buy its first bank. Since January, it has acquired one bank in its home state and two in Georgia. (Image: ThinkStock)

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Looking for Well-Run Banks

Veritex Holdings Inc., Dallas, $430 million

C. Malcolm Holland, a former Texas president at Colonial BancGroup Inc., raised $45 million in 2010 from private equity and other investors with a goal of building a $1.5 billion-asset bank in the Dallas area. While others are chasing bargains, Holland has focused on the good apples. Veritex has completed three acquisitions.

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