Corus Bankshares (CORS) the Chicago-based construction lender with more than 110 construction loans presently, may have a bidder for its assets. CORS has been the lender of a number of highly publicized projects, which have included Trump projects and the Palmolive Building in Chicago.
 
Similar to other institutions, CORS has been hard hit by losses on condominium construction loans and was reportedly to have retained Bank of America (BAC) to help the institution find additional capital or help sell the operation as early as last month. It would appear that CORS may have been able to find a suitor for its assets, the private-equity firm Starwood Capital Group.
 
Starwood Capital Group is Barry Sternlicht operation. Mr. Sternlicht has also previously formed companies such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT) and property finance company iStar Financial Inc (SFI).
 
Clearly we are seeing a major player in the space able to see value. However, we have yet to determine if the buyer and seller will have a meeting of the minds.
Read the full analyst report on “CORS”
Read the full analyst report on “BAC”
Read the full analyst report on “HOT”
Read the full analyst report on “SFI”
Zacks Investment Research