Ex-LI banker still plans to return to area

What, you don't think big bankers stand in line at Starbucks and buy their own coffee?

Maybe most don't, but their number does not include John Adam Kanas, the former chief executive of Melville-based North Fork Bank, which he turned into a powerhouse over a period of three decades and sold in 2006 to Capital One of McLean, Va.

We caught up with Kanas as he was paying for his coffee at a Starbucks near Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, and it gave us a chance to ask the 65-year-old financier -- now CEO and co-owner of BankUnited Inc. in Miami Lakes, Fla., and once a very prominent figure in Long Island's business community -- some questions.

Last we checked with Kanas, BankUnited was planning a $71.4-million purchase of Herald National Bank, which has offices in Melville, Manhattan and Brooklyn. But last week came word that BankUnited, which has 90 branches in Florida, was looking into selling itself. And almost just as quickly, it decided not to.

Kanas, in our conversation, said all that was reported in the business press was true. He added that BankUnited could not get the price it wanted, but he declined to disclose that price. Kanas said investment bankers who had told him and his board that BankUnited would fetch "a very good price" for shareholders "were wrong."

Did BankUnited's decision, to try to sell, and then not sell, impact plans to buy Herald National? "No, in fact we're expecting to close on Herald sometime in February," he said.

And, Kanas said, since BankUnited won't sell, and still plans to grow, it will be looking for more business opportunities. "We are keenly interested in growing, not just in New York City, but other parts of New York as well."

Could that mean Long Island? "Certainly Long Island is not out of the question," said Kanas, whose noncompete agreement with Capital One in the New York area expires in August.

Maybe the coffee on Long Island is better than elsewhere?