I will buy a bank, says billionaire investor

By David Ellis
CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, known for
his investments in distressed companies in the steel and automotive industries,
said it is only a matter of time before his firm acquires a bank.

"We will end up with a bank, there is no doubt about that," Ross, the
chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co., said in an interview Tuesday.
Ross, a major player in the private equity industry, said that his plans
to purchase a depository institution were delayed last year after the
government moved to inject capital into the nation's banking system as part of
a broader effort to halt the financial crisis.

He estimated that the rescue package delayed his investment anywhere
between six to 12 months, and suggested that his firm might look to buy a
commercial bank or thrift institution.

Ross made a string of investments across the financial services sector
last year, including the purchase of H&R Block's subprime mortgage servicing
unit last spring for $1.3 billion and the acquisition of bankrupt American Home
Mortgage Investment Corp.

But some of those bets have backfired. Last February he plowed $250
million into the bond insurer Assured Guaranty at around $21 a share. The
company's market value has been nearly cut in half since then.

Still, acquiring sources of deposits has become a top priority for banks
and other financial institutions in the past few months since credit has gotten
harder to come by as a result of the ongoing crisis. Private equity investors
like Ross have also expressed a desire to buy banks as well.

"What is important is to get access to a stable, low-cost source of
funding," Ross said. "That is what we are interested in."