Private equity firms eye BankUnited: report

(Reuters) - Two private-equity firms are considering investments in BankUnited Financial Corp BKUNA.O, weighed down by a huge portfolio of adjustable-rate mortgages, The Wall Street Journal said citing people familiar with the situation.

MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC and Kelso & Co are conducting due diligence on BankUnited and consulting regulators, these people told the paper.

MatlinPatterson, which rescued mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc TMA.N from the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year, is also weighing pumping money into Downey Financial Corp DSL.N, the paper said.

It was not clear if any of the potential investments would materialize, the Journal added.

Earlier this year, BankUnited rejected overtures from private-equity firms that had expressed interest in providing new capital, the paper said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Instead, BankUnited decided to try to raise about $400 million in the public markets. A lukewarm response forced the company to shelve those plans about a month ago, these people told the paper.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in Bangalore; Editing by Paul Bolding)