Midwestern regional adds Fidelity Bancshares to Florida acquisition list. Cleveland-based National City Bank has agreed to buy West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Fidelity Bankshares. The move is National City's second foray into southeast Florida -- a lucrative market into which it plans to introduce wealth-management and other more standard services.

Neither party provided financial details of the transaction. National City agreed to acquire Fort Pierce, Fla.-based Harbor Florida Bancshares in mid July.

Eighth state

"Fidelity [Bancshares] is a well-run institution with a sizeable branch network situated in an attractive growth market," says David Daberko, National City's chairman and CEO. "We intend to build on this impressive franchise with our full suite of products and services, including consumer and small business lending, credit card, expanded corporate banking and wealth management."

National City's private-client unit includes Sterling, a multi-family office that advises about 130 families on total assets of roughly $3.5 billion.

Fidelity Bancshares, the fourth-largest publicly traded bank headquartered in Florida, has 52 branches, all of them in eastern Florida, and total assets of $4.2 billion. Add Harbor Florida to the mix and National City picks up 92 branches in eastern Florida with total assets of over $7 billion.

National City has 1,200 branches in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Pennsylvania.

Fidelity Bancshare's chairman and CEO Vince Elhilow says the merger "will enhance our product and service offerings and greatly expand the channels through which we meet the financial services needs of our customers."

As part of the deal, National City says it will establish a $2-million charitable fund to benefit communities in Fidelity Bancshares' footprint.

"Fidelity Bankshares has longstanding ties to Southeast Florida, and we're proud to team up with a company that shares our commitment to our customers and our communities," says Elhilow, who will remain as chairman and CEO after the transaction is completed. "Local decision making is and will remain a central theme of National City's business model, as will a commitment to supporting the communities it serves." --FWR

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