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Article: In banking bloodbath, an unlikely predator; Decade after patriarch's conviction, Republic is back to buying.(NEWS)(Republic Bank of Chicago)
- Article from:
- Crain's Chicago Business
- Article date:
- August 10, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: STEVE DANIELS
A surprise aggressor has emerged in the sweepstakes to buy up failed Chicago banks.
Republic Bank of Chicago, a small Oak Brook-based lender, has bought two of the five banks that have failed in the area this year, and it tried to buy a third but lost out to a much larger bidder.
Snapping up distressed competitors is, it turns out, a familiar strategy for Republic. The bank was purchased in the 1980s by then-Chairman Michael Halikias, a south suburban real estate investor who built Republic by dealing for failed thrifts in the savings-and-loan crisis. Mr. Halikias, 75, no longer runs Republic; he was banned from banking ...