Wilbur L. Ross Jr. aims to buy struggling small banks

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Wilbur L. Ross Jr., the billionaire financier known for buying companies cheaply, has compiled a shopping list of small struggling banks that might prove to be good investments.

Ross plans to buy stakes in a handful of those regional banks to combine them with some mortgage-related companies that his investment firm, W.L. Ross & Company, has already purchased. And he said on Wednesday that he believed investors and government funds in the Middle East might join him on his buying binge.

"I believe there will be 1,000 or more depository institutions that need money," Ross said. "They're of interest to me and of interest to my fund, and I believe they will be of interest to investors in general."

Several Middle Eastern individuals and government funds are already investors with Ross's firm, he said, though he would not name them. Next week, he plans to travel to Abu Dhabi and discuss with investors there the 100 to 200 small banks that he deems promising.

IHT