BankUnited Files $300 Million IPO

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- BankUnited filed to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering of common stock. The shares would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BKU."

The IPO would be the first bank IPO by private investors since the financial crisis. BankUnited is owned by Wilbur Ross's WL Ross & Co., Carlyle Group, Blackstone Group(BX) and Centerbridge Partners. The private equity firms purchased the assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in May 2009 and invested $900 million of their own assets into Florida-based institution.

The IPO could add $3 billion in assets to the bank's balance sheet. As of June 30 the bank had $11 billion in assets. Proceeds from the IPO will be used for organic growth and acquisitions. The SEC filings says that the company plans to pay a dividend to shareholders after the offering.

"Private equity IPOs have been amongst the worst performing IPOs that have debuted," said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner of IPO Boutique. "I do not think it is truly the right time for private equity-backed bank to become public. I think it will be a turn off to investors because investors like to see year over year stability and growth."

"I'm betting on a good offering. You are investing with pretty smart people and the management had done a pretty good job making money for shareholders," Jones Day's Chip MacDonald said. "They have been making a 2% profit."

BankUnited CEO John Kanas has repeatedly said that the bank could follow the same acquisition strategy he used when he ran North Fork Bank. He is rumored to be looking at distressed banks in the New York area to acquire. MacDonald adds that the bank could be looking to establish new branches in New York as well because the markets are synergistic.

Underwriters for the public offering areMorgan Stanley(MS) , Bank of America Merrill Lynch(BAC), Deutsche Bank(DB) and Goldman Sachs(GS).

--Written by Maria Woehr in New York.

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