July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Lubert-Adler Partners LP, the Philadelphia-based private-equity firm, is among at least four investors weighing bids for Corus Bankshares Inc., the Chicago lender crippled by loans to build condominiums, people familiar with the matter said.

Lubert-Adler may take part in a bid for Corus assets or an offer for the entire bank, said the people, who asked not to be named because the talks are private. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has indicated that the bank, which said this week it understated its first-quarter loss by $16 million, may be seized as soon as Aug. 6, the people said.

“The appeal of these distressed bank deals is buying at a discount with a potential government guarantee on some losses,” said Joseph Vitale, a partner at New York-based law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, who advises buyout firms on investments in financial institutions. “There’s a real chance to reap the upside.”

New York developer Related Cos., Thomas Barrack’s Colony Capital LLC and J.C. Flowers & Co. are also mulling bids for Corus. The 51-year-old bank’s fate rests with the FDIC because the lender and its financial adviser, Bank of America Corp., haven’t been able to find a buyer willing to complete a deal without government assistance.

FDIC’s Rules

FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray declined to comment. Randy Curtis, Corus’s interim chief executive officer, didn’t reply to a phone call. Representatives of Colony, Related and Lubert- Adler declined to comment. Flowers didn’t return a message left at his office.

Lubert-Adler and Related Group, an affiliate of Related Cos., announced a $1 billion investment vehicle last year to buy mortgages and property from developers, lenders and owners. Lubert-Adler focuses on real-estate investments.

The FDIC, led by Sheila Bair, is wrestling with the role private investors should play in the resolution of the banking crisis. After closing BankUnited Financial Corp. and IndyMac Bank, regulators agreed to loss-sharing provisions when selling them to investors this year.

The FDIC’s insurance fund, which covers deposits up to $250,000 after Congress temporarily boosted the amount from $100,000, is financed from fees paid by banks. It fell to $13 billion in the first quarter, the lowest since September 1993.

The regulator proposed takeover rules two weeks ago that buyout managers said would deter them from pursuing future deals.

Not In Compliance

“There’s a question on what Corus signifies about the FDIC’s proposed rules,” said Vitale. “Will it follow the precedent of other recent private equity deals or will they subject the buyers to something new based on how they expect to finalize the rules?”

Corus revised its net loss for the period ended March 31 to $301 million from $285 million and Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent, according to a July 21 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The added loss resulted from a “reduction in the appraised value of a property that is securing a nonperforming loan,” Corus said.

“However, the bank was already not in compliance with its minimum capital ratios and was classified as “undercapitalized’” as of May 1, the filing said.

Corus shares, which traded for as much as $33 in 2006, have tumbled 78 percent this year and closed today at 24 cents on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The bank had a $5.4 billion commercial real estate loan portfolio as of March 31, including $997 million to condominiums in Miami and southeast Florida, according to company filings.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Kelly in New York at jkelly14@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Keehner in New York at jkeehner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 23, 2009 18:02 EDT