NEWSMAKER-Sallie Mae deal seen as classic JC Flowers move

By Michael Flaherty

NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - A deal to take student loan company Sallie Mae private adds to the lore of banker J. Christopher Flowers and his ability to master complex transactions involving financial institutions.

Sallie Mae, under fire from regulators and lawmakers, said on Monday it had accepted a $25 billion takeover bid from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) , Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) , investment fund Friedman Fleischer & Lowe and J.C. Flowers & Co. -- the private equity firm run by Flowers.

Because private equity deals involve loading a company with debt, some on Wall Street have wondered whether a leveraged buyout of a major lender was possible or even worth the effort.

That speculation ended when Sallie Mae confirmed the deal, the biggest U.S. private private equity buyout in the financial sector.

"Chris, for so many years, has been one of the top investment bankers covering the space," said Brian Sterling, Co-Head of the Investment Banking Group at Sandler O'Neill.

"With this transaction, it just proves that he is one of the guys you have to talk to."

Flowers was a partner at Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) when he resigned in 1998.

Soon after, he launched J.C. Flowers LLC, a New York-based private equity firm focusing on deals in the financial institutions sector.