With U.S. banks failing well ahead of last year's rapid rate -- there have been 78 so far in 2010 -- certain elements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. auctions for the crippled institutions are now well established. One is that private equity backed buyers have a high hurdle to clear with the FDIC. Another is that in Florida, which this year leads the nation in busted banks, the regulators aren't crazy about in-state acquirers, since their loan portfolios are likely to have some of the same problems as the target's.

So how is it that on Friday, May 28, the FDIC chose PE-backed, Jacksonville-based EverBank Financial Corp. as the winning bidder for Bank of Florida-Southwest in Naples, Bank of Florida-Southeast in Fort Lauderdale and Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay? All told the privately held thrift picked up 14 branches, about $1.2 billion in deposits and roughly $1.5 billion in assets, most of which are covered by FDIC loss sharing agreements. Up until Friday, only three of the 10 failed Florida bank deals this year involved in-state buyers, two of which were newly chartered banks unfettered by legacy loans.

The answer is that EverBank is unusual in a couple of ways. Though it has four Jacksonville branches, it is mainly an Internet bank, and the large majority of its $7.4 billion in deposits and $9.6 billion in assets were generated online, with customers all over the country.

"We don't have an asset concentration in Florida," chairman and CEO Rob Clements told the Deal.

As for the private equity backing, what makes all the difference is that EverBank got it well after being established in its current form in 2002, when Sageview Capital LP took an undisclosed minority stake via a $100 million investment in 2008. In October, following Everbank's stock-for-stock acquisition of Tygris Commercial Finance Group, private investors led by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, New Mountain Capital LLC and TPG Capital ended up with a 37% EverBank stake.

So while the FDIC requires that PE-owned banks maintain a 10% tier one capital ratio, twice that of banks purchased by traditional buyers, the rules only apply to private equity money raised for the sole purpose of doing failed bank deals, Clements said, adding that EverBank's private equity investments were entirely independent of a failed bank strategy.

Will this uniquely positioned bank capitalize on the Florida distressed deals sure to come?

Clements said the bank will be selective, with the main thrust continuing to be online, where it enjoys low fixed costs. Bank of Florida's small number of branches, with higher deposits per branch, fits nicely with the strategy. Other ailing institutions with a similar profile may too.