- Job Market Politics to Keep Interest Rates Low
- AIG, Symbol of Crisis, Watches Its Stock Zoom Back
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: The Real Reason Stocks Fell Thursday
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Few Options to Boost Jobs
- US Debating What to Do With Billions of TARP Money Left
- Gold Is a Bad Inflation Hedge—Like Oil: Stock Picker
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- US 'Actively Working' on Weaker Dollar: Fund Manager
- Options Boil on Biotech Buyout Rumors
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- 5-Star Manager's 5 Stocks for Changing Markets
- What's The Forecast from Retailers? Proceed With Caution
- Disney's CFO-Theme Park Chairman Executive Swap
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Share Their 'Optimism' With Eager Columbia Business Students
- Meet The Leaders of the New Retail Revolution
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Disney CFO and Parks Chief to Swap Roles
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Limited Options To Boost Jobs
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
Text Size 
U.S. private equity firm TPG and other investors are near a deal to invest around $5 billion in U.S. thrift Washington Mutual, a source familiar with the situation said.
 |
The Wall Street Journal said the other investors include large shareholders of the Seattle-based lender and may also involve other buyout firms, but noted that an agreement was yet to be finalized. (Video: CNBC's David Faber discusses the implications of a potential cash infustion)
According to the report, the investment looks like it could be both a common- and preferred-stock offering, adding that the preferred stock could be later converted to common shares, subject to a shareholder vote.
Also, TPG is expected to get a seat on the company's board, the WSJ said.
The U.S. government was not directly involved in shaping the deal, though banking regulators were likely made aware of WaMu's plans, the Journal said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The plan sets aside the possibility of JPMorgan Chase [JPM
Loading...
()
] potentially buying Washington Mutual at least for now, the report said.
JPMorgan made a preliminary offer for Washington Mutual after studying its financial state since March, but talks between the two firms stopped last week, the Journal said, quoting a person familiar with the situation.
Washington Mutual [WM
Loading...
()
], the largest U.S. savings and loan, has suffered heavy losses from the national mortgage crisis.
In January, the lender said it expected to set aside as much as $2 billion for credit losses in the current quarter.
A Washington Mutual representative was not immediately available for comment.
Thrifts -- so named because they originally offered only savings accounts -- have evolved into offering a range of financial products and make business and consumer loans as well as residential mortgages.
The thrift crisis of the 1980s closed many of them and their number has continued to decline as differences have narrowed between them and banks.
Print
Email
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates spoke to Columbia students, and Buffett made the students a startling offer.
- They may have wrecked their companies or saved our economy. Tell us what you think.
- Big pharma embraces social media, but how much should a tightly regulated sector say on Facebook or Twitter?
- A European dating site finds lovelorn singles from one country to be consistently uglier. Which is it?
- Contributor David Pogue looks at two of the latest efforts to perfect the digital pocket camera.
- PepsiCo is ramping up its onsite health facilities for workers.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes