BankUnited Inc's private equity owners have put the Florida bank up for sale and have hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc to run the process, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. BankUnited was approached by more than one strategic bidder, prompting the review, and a decision on whether a sale takes place could come in the next two weeks, one of the sources said.
The private equity owners of BankUnited, which has a market value of about $2.3 billion, include Wilbur Ross's WL Ross & Co, Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group. BankUnited has already proven to be a blockbuster deal for the private equity firms. When the company went public in January 2011, the private equity investors saw the value of their initial investment of $900 million nearly triple at the IPO price of $27 per share. A second source familiar with the situation said some of the private equity owners were only too happy to consider a sale, given the extent of scrutiny from US bank regulators.