Washington Mutual, a Seattle-based institution, will paystockholders of Bank United 1.3 shares of Washington Mutual stockfor each of share they own in Bank United. The proposed transactionmust be reviewed by federal banking regulators and approved by BankUnited stockholders before it is completed.

Houston-based Bank United is the largest publicly traded bankingorganization based in Texas. As of June 30, Bank United operated a155 branches in the Lone Star State, including 66 branches in thegreater Houston area; 77 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, five inMidland, four in Austin and three in San Antonio.

"This transaction gives Washington Mutual the critical mass tocapitalize on the outstanding growth potential of the Texasmarket," says Kerry Killinger, Washington Mutual's chairman,president and CEO. "It's a logical extension of our strategy tobecome the leading consumer bank in the nation's most attractivegeographic markets."