Zero Hedge

According to Reuters:

* Consortium led by Gerald Ford bids - source

* Consortium bids despite FDIC rule uncertainty - sources

* Other bids expected by Tues. deadline - sources

It was unclear how many offers were submitted in total by Tuesday's deadline for bids, but sources said that there were also expected to be bids from other parties.

The Ford consortium includes Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Oak Hill Capital and TPG, the sources said.

The Financial Times reported on Monday that Canada's Toronto Dominion and JPMorgan had expressed interest in Guaranty. Another reported to have been interested is U.S. Bancorp.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation recently published tough proposals for private capital investors in failed banks and the industry is awaiting final guidelines from the U.S. regulator.

It was unclear how the Ford-led bid had been structured amid the uncertainty over the proposed FDIC guidelines.

However, private equity executives and observers have previously said that it would be unlikely any deal would be inked in accordance with the original guidelines proposed, which they view as too harsh.

The guidelines include a proposal that banks to be bought by private equity have a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 15 percent, far higher than the 5 percent required of well-capitalized banks. That is widely expected to be reduced when the FDIC publishes its final guidelines, industry sources have previously told Reuters. (Reporting by Megan Davies and Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Gary Hill)

***

So basically everybody is interested, yet nobody has bought this toxic collection of $14 billion in significantly impaired loans yet, even as we are now less than two hours away from a symbolic deadline. One almost wonders (but no quite) how Kudlow will spin this implicit taxpayer bailout as proof of capitalist success, while Pisani will extol the virtues of socializing yet more toxic assets as the umpteenth (disclaimer: a number not officially recognized by Basel II) victory for the bulls.

More articles from Zero Hedge….

view original article