After Major Florida Bank Fails, Carlyle Swoops In as a Buyer

BankUnited's failure is the biggest this year. Carlyle and other investors agreed to recapitalize the bank.

By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 22, 2009

Florida-based BankUnited collapsed yesterday, the largest bank failure so far this year, as a new federal investigation revealed that the bank's regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, allowed the firm to cover up its financial weakness.

A consortium of investors, including District-based private-equity giant Carlyle Group, agreed to buy and recapitalize BankUnited, the fourth-largest bank to fail since the onset of the financial crisis. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said it expects to absorb $4.9 billion in losses.