Friday, May 22, 2009

Carlyle-eeze for BankUnited Equity Holders


When the FDIC seized BankUnited, equity holders lost out. Bidders clearly lobbied for zeroing out shareholders. Here's what The Carlyle Group & Company offered in the way of information to former BU share "bag holders":

Question: What about my shares of stock, notes or subordinated notes that I own in BankUnited Financial Corp.?

There was no publicly owned stock in BankUnited, FSB. If you are an equity shareholder, your shares are in BankUnited Financial Corp. in Coral Gables, the holding company for BankUnited, FSB, and not the institution. BankUnited Financial and the interests of equity, debt holders or other creditors of BankUnited Financial are not included in the closure or receivership of the institution. Any claims by equity holders were not acquired by the assuming institution. Please do not file a claim with the Receiver; instead, you should contact BankUnited Financial directly for information.

Contact the FDIC and Treasury. They're the pair arranging sweet deals for private equity underwriters.

Question: Will I continue to earn interest at the same rate? Will I be charged an early withdrawal penalty?

BankUnited will be reviewing rates and will notify you.

The PEU boys win again. It's a familiar refrain.