So, last week I posted this video in which Wilbur Ross claimed the next big investment opportunity would be in smaller banks. Today news is he want to be the one buying them.
Bloomberg reported today Ross is seeking $4 billion from overseas investors.
Ross will talk with Gulf investors in Abu Dhabi next week about 100 to 200 so-called thrift banks. In the interview Ross said regional depositary banks have “more narrowly defined” problems and “a more stable base of deposits” than cross-border lenders such as Citigroup (C) and UBS (UBS), Ross said. He plans to package U.S. thrift bank acquisitions “as a finished product” to sovereign wealth funds.
He continued, saying thrifts are “particularly vulnerable because their portfolios tend to be so real estate-oriented,” and so can be bought “at a very attractive price,” Ross said today. Acquired banks could be combined with a mortgage business to provide stable funding for home loans that are “essential” to the U.S. economy even if “singularly unprofitable” right now.
Here is the challenge, how do we figure out what 100 to 200 thrifts he is talking about out of the thousands out there? Since he cannot by more than 24.9% of one without coming under Federal regulation, he must have his eyes set on a few of them since he will most likely not have any problem getting the money he seeks given his track record.
He is building a mortgage empire at distressed prices.
Anyone got a good stock screen for Ross?
Disclosure (“none” means no position): Long C, none
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.