Ross still in bond insurer talks, sees more deals

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Friday that he remained in talks to invest in troubled bond insurance companies, and his agreement to invest up to $1 billion into Assured Guaranty (AGO.N) would let the bond insurer expand through acquisition.

Ross, who made his fortune snapping up textile, coal and steel companies when they were beaten down, said Assured was a more solid company that could use capital to expand. More-troubled bond insurers, such as MBIA Inc (MBI.N) and Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK.N), have been seeking capital to protect credit ratings threatened by heavy mortgage-related losses.

Through Assured, Ross told Reuters, he would "probably" end up putting money into bond insurers, although he declined to identify potential investments. He had been expected to announce a big investment in one of the other, better-known insurers.

"The idea of this capital is to reposition the company, not to simply patch a hole. That's what makes it different," Ross said in a telephone interview. "It does not mean we may not, through this entity, end up putting money into some of the others. We probably will."

(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)