National City buys Chicago bank for $1.9B

May 2, 2007, 21:00 GMT

CLARENDON HILLS, IL, United States (UPI) -- Cleveland`s National City Corp. plans to become Chicago`s fourth-biggest bank by buying the parent of MidAmerica Bank for $1.9 billion, National City said.

National City, with $140 billion in assets, said it would pay $56 a share for MAF Bancorp Inc., whose assets are $11.1 billion.

MidAmerica, based in suburban Clarendon Hills, Ill., had tried to grow beyond retail banking and home loans, but decided a merger would better serve its purpose, MAF Chairman and Chief Executive Allen Koranda told The Chicago Tribune.

'We`ve been working hard over the past five years to build capacity as a business banking lender, and we`ve made good progress, but we still had a long way to go to get into areas like credit cards, wealth management and small-business lending,' he said.

The purchase is the second in Chicago banking in a week.

Bank of America Corp. last week agreed to buy Chicago`s LaSalle Bank for $21 billion from Dutch parent ABN Amro Holding NV, although that deal may be derailed.

After the MAF acquisition, set to close in the fourth quarter, National City will have more than 1,400 branches in the Midwest and Florida.

Source : http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1299473.php/National_City_buys_Chicago_bank_for_$1.9B