Saving banks is an inglorious pursuit. Lose money, and everyone is baying for your blood; turn a fat profit, and risk a political or regulatory backlash. Thus Lone Star has yet to extricate itself from Korea Exchange Bank, a deal on which it once stood to garner $5bn in profit. Now is the turn of TPG, another US private equity firm, which paid $150m for a controlling stake in Shenzhen Development Bank five years ago.
拯救银行是一项不大光彩的事情。亏了,会成为所有人攻击的目标;大赚一笔,又可能面临政治或监管方面的对抗性反应。正因如此,孤星集团(Lone Star)至今仍未从韩国外换银行(Korea Exchange Bank)交易中脱身——它当初可以从该交易中录得50亿美元的利润。现在轮到了另一家美国私人股本公司——德州太平洋集团(TPG),该公司5年前出资1.5亿美元,购入了深圳发展银行(Shenzhen Development Bank)的控股权。