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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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Wreck of IndyMac Sold for $13.9B

Soros, Dell among the players in FDIC's damaged-goods sale

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(Newser) – A team of high-profile investors has bought the remains of failed bank IndyMac from the FDIC for $13.9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. The investors, including George Soros and computer tycoon Michael Dell, have agreed to share the losses from IndyMac's portfolio of troubled mortgages in a deal expected to cost the FDIC around $9 billion.

The sale of the failed bank to a group of investors rather than to a healthy bank is unusual for the FDIC, leading analysts to believe that there may be a growing pool of private money ready to step in where bruised banks still fear to tread. Yesterday's deal could also signal a belief among investors that the financial and housing crisis has reached its bottom—or it may have just been too good to pass up.

In this July 14, 2008 file photo, employees of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation leave the IndyMac Federal Bank headquarters in Pasadena, Calif.
In this July 14, 2008 file photo, employees of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation leave the IndyMac Federal Bank headquarters in Pasadena, Calif.   (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
Customers of IndyMac Federal Bank enter the failed financial institution's headquarters in Pasadena, Calif., to pull as much money as they could from their accounts Monday July 14, 2008.
Customers of IndyMac Federal Bank enter the failed financial institution's headquarters in Pasadena, Calif., to pull as much money as they could from their accounts Monday July 14, 2008.   (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
IndyMac customers sit and wait as they try to get their money back from the bank, Tuesday July 15, 2008 in Encino, Calif.
IndyMac customers sit and wait as they try to get their money back from the bank, Tuesday July 15, 2008 in Encino, Calif.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Soros Fund Management Chairman George Soros testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 13,2008, before a hearing on
Soros Fund Management Chairman George Soros testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 13,2008, before a hearing on "Hedge Funds and the Financial Market".   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
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IndyMac changed this from a crisis on Wall Street to a crisis for consumers. Suddenly, people who never thought twice about their savings worried about whether their bank would fail.
- Jaret Seiberg, analyst with Stanford Group, a financial-services company.

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