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Long Island banking titan John Kanas, along with several high-profile investors, has acquired BankUnited FSB, a failing Coral Gables, Fla.-based bank, and will serve as its chairman and chief executive, Kanas confirmed last night.

Federal regulators closed the troubled BankUnited yesterday, saying it was "in an unsafe condition to conduct business." The bank was then put into the hands of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Last night, the FDIC sold the bank to Kanas and his partners, which include W.L. Ross & Co., the Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group and Centerbridge Partners.

"We've been interested in this bank for over a year," Kanas said in an interview last night. "We think that it will serve as a foundation for us to build an important bank in Florida."

Newsday first reported Kanas' interest in BankUnited, Florida's largest independent bank, earlier this month.

Kanas, a Long Island business and banking leader, is the former head of North Fork Bancorp, which he built into 350 branches and $60 billion in assets before selling to Capital One in 2006.

Kanas and his partners, who were among three bidders interested in the bank, are investing $900 million in the deal, which will create a new savings bank that will take on the failed bank's assets. The new bank will retain the BankUnited name, along with 86 branches, $8.6 billion in deposits and $12.7 billion in assets.

"The bank is a very nice institution that can grow to become much more important," Kanas said, adding that he planned to build the bank's small business lending efforts, while also adding branches in South Florida.

The deal involves a loss-sharing arrangement between the bank and FDIC, which will take on $4.9 billion in costs to its deposit insurance fund.