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PNC to Acquire National City

   PNC Acquires National City; Creates A Leading Deposit Banking Franchise. (PRNewsFoto/The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.)

PITTSBURGH, PA UNITED STATES
   The PNC Financial Services Group. (PRNewsFoto/THE PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP)

PITTSBURGH, PA UNITED STATES
   Merger will create fifth largest U.S. banking deposit franchise PNC to
                    further strengthen capital position

    PITTSBURGH, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The PNC Financial
Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC)
today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for PNC to
acquire National City for $2.23 per share, or an aggregate fixed amount of
approximately $5.2 billion in PNC stock. Additionally $384 million of cash
is payable to certain warrant holders. Total consideration approximates
National City's market capitalization as of the close of business on
October 23, 2008. National City shareholders will be entitled to 0.0392
share of PNC common stock for each share of National City.

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081024/NEF023 )

    (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000307/PHTU015 )

    PNC plans to issue to the U.S. Treasury $7.7 billion of preferred stock
and related warrants under the TARP Capital Purchase Program subject to
standard closing requirements. The U.S. Treasury Department approval of
PNC's participation enables PNC to further strengthen its capital position,
resulting in an estimated pro forma Tier 1 capital ratio for the combined
company of approximately 10 percent.

    "The acquisition of National City will increase our core deposit base
to $180 billion, making PNC the fifth largest U.S. bank by deposits. At a
time when core funding is key, we see our deposit strength as an important
success factor. Upon closing the transaction, we will implement our
successful business model and execute our strategies for managing risk,
achieving cost efficiencies and growing high-quality revenue streams," said
James E. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC. "We believe
this strategic combination will continue PNC's efforts to build capital
strength and shareholder value. We are also gratified that we have been
selected to participate in Treasury's Capital Purchase Program, which has
helped to put this transaction on a very solid footing."

    The transaction has an estimated internal rate of return to PNC of more
than 15 percent and is expected to be accretive to PNC's earnings in the
second year. PNC's fair value adjustments and provisions for future losses
of National City's current loan portfolio will bring the cumulative
impairment of these loans to approximately 17.5 percent. PNC will continue
to liquidate non- core and impaired loans.

    "The combined company will have greater scale and scope, enhancing
service to our customers and communities and providing greater
opportunities for our employees. This transaction is about two companies
that fit well together in terms of geography, products and services," said
Peter E. Raskind, chairman, president and chief executive officer of
National City.

    Upon closing the transaction, Raskind will be appointed a PNC vice
chairman, and one National City director will join the board of the
combined company.

    In addition to ranking fifth nationally in deposits, the combination
with National City is expected to place PNC fourth among U.S. banks in
number of branches. It will give PNC the No. 1 deposit share position in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky and will rank the company No. 2 in Indiana
and Maryland.

    PNC expects to incur merger and integration costs of approximately $2.3
billion. The transaction is expected to result in the reduction of
approximately $1.2 billion of noninterest expense through the elimination
of operational and administrative redundancies.

    Under terms of the agreement, PNC will acquire all outstanding shares
of common stock of National City in a stock-for-stock transaction, which
has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. In
connection with the transaction, National City has issued to PNC an option
to acquire 19.9 percent of National City's common stock that becomes
exercisable under certain specified circumstances. Corsair Capital, LLC,
which owns approximately 7.8 percent of outstanding National City common
shares, has agreed to vote all National City common shares it owns in favor
of the deal and otherwise support the transaction. After closing, PNC
intends to merge National City's banking affiliates into PNC Bank and they
will assume the PNC Bank name. The merged entity will have its headquarters
in Pittsburgh.

    Based on PNC's closing NYSE stock price of $56.88 on October 23, 2008,
the transaction values each share of National City's common stock at $2.23.
The aggregate consideration is composed of a fixed number of approximately
92 million shares of PNC common stock. Additionally $384 million of cash is
payable to certain warrant holders.

    The transaction is currently anticipated to close by Dec. 31, 2008. The
merger is subject to customary closing conditions, including both PNC and
National City shareholders and regulatory approvals. Citigroup Global
Markets Inc., JPMorgan Securities, Inc. and Sandler O'Neill + Partners,
L.P. acted as financial advisers to PNC, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
acted as its legal adviser. Goldman Sachs acted as financial adviser to
National City and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as its legal adviser, and
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP acted as legal adviser to the Board of
Directors of National City.

    CONFERENCE CALL AND SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

    Rohr and Chief Financial Officer Richard J. Johnson will hold a
conference call for investors at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time today regarding
the announcement of the acquisition. Investors should call 5 to 10 minutes
before the start of the conference call at 800-990-2718 or 706-643-0187
(international). The related presentation slides to accompany the
conference call remarks may be found at http://www.pnc.com/investorevents. A taped
replay of the call will be available for one week at 800-642-1687 and
706-645-9291 (international), conference ID 70844287. In addition, Internet
access to the call (listen only) and to the presentation slides will be
available at http://www.pnc.com/investorevents. A replay of the webcast will be
available on PNC's Web site for 30 days.

    The conference call may include a discussion of non-GAAP financial
measures, which, to the extent not so qualified during the conference call,
is qualified by GAAP reconciliation information that will be made available
on PNC's Web site under "About PNC - Investor Relations." The conference
call may include forward-looking information, which along with the
presentation slides and this news release, is subject to the cautionary
statements that follow.

    National City Corporation, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of
the nation's largest financial holding companies. The company operates
through an extensive banking network primarily in Ohio, Florida, Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and also
serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its core businesses
include commercial and retail banking, mortgage financing and servicing,
consumer finance and asset management. For more information about National
City, visit the company's Web site at nationalcity.com.

    The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (http://www.pnc.com) is one of the
nation's largest diversified financial services organizations providing
retail and business banking; specialized services for corporations and
government, including corporate banking, real estate finance and
asset-based lending; wealth management; asset management and global fund
services.

    CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

    This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding our
outlook or expectations with respect to the planned acquisition of National
City Corporation (National City), the expected costs to be incurred in
connection with the acquisition, National City's future performance and
consequences of its integration into PNC, and the impact of the transaction
on PNC's future performance.

    Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks
and uncertainties, which change over time. The forward-looking statements
in this press release speak only as of the date of the press release, and
each of PNC and National City assumes no duty, and does not undertake, to
update them. Actual results or future events could differ, possibly
materially, from those that we anticipated in these forward-looking
statements.

    These forward-looking statements are subject to the principal risks and
uncertainties applicable to the respective businesses of PNC and National
City generally that are disclosed in the 2007 Form 10-K and in current year
Form 10-Qs and 8-Ks of PNC and National City (accessible on the SEC's Web
site at http://www.sec.gov and on PNC's Web site at http://www.pnc.com and on National
City's Web site at http://www.nationalcity.com, respectively). In addition,
forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to the
following risks and uncertainties related both to the acquisition
transaction itself and to the integration of the acquired business into PNC
after closing:

    Completion of the transaction is dependent on, among other things,
receipt of regulatory and shareholder approvals, the timing of which cannot
be predicted with precision at this point and which may not be received at
all. The impact of the completion of the transaction on PNC's financial
statements will be affected by the timing of the transaction, including in
particular the ability to complete the acquisition in the fourth quarter of
2008.

    The transaction may be substantially more expensive to complete
(including the integration of National City's businesses) and the
anticipated benefits, including anticipated cost savings and strategic
gains, may be significantly harder or take longer to achieve than expected
or may not be achieved in their entirety as a result of unexpected factors
or events.

    Our ability to achieve anticipated results from this transaction is
dependent on the state of the economic and financial markets going forward,
which have been under significant stress recently. Specifically, we may
incur more credit losses from National City's loan portfolio than expected.
Other issues related to achieving anticipated financial results include the
possibility that deposit attrition may be greater than expected. Litigation
and governmental investigations currently pending against National City, as
well as others that may be filed as a result of this transaction or
otherwise, could impact the timing or realization of anticipated benefits
to PNC.

    The integration of National City's business and operations into PNC,
which will include conversion of National City's different systems and
procedures, may take longer than anticipated or be more costly than
anticipated or have unanticipated adverse results relating to National
City's or PNC's existing businesses. PNC's ability to integrate National
City successfully may be adversely affected by the fact that this
transaction will result in PNC entering several markets where PNC does not
currently have any meaningful retail presence.

    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PNC/NATIONAL CITY CORPORATION
TRANSACTION

    The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and National City Corporation
will be filing a joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant
documents concerning the merger with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). WE URGE INVESTORS TO READ THE JOINT PROXY
STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN
CONNECTION WITH THE MERGER OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE IN THE JOINT PROXY
STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

    Investors will be able to obtain these documents free of charge at the
SEC's Web site (http://www.sec.gov). In addition, documents filed with the SEC by
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will be available free of charge
from Shareholder Relations at (800) 843-2206. Documents filed with the SEC
by National City Corporation will be available free of charge from National
City by contacting Investor Relations at (800) 622-4204.

    The directors, executive officers, and certain other members of
management and employees of National City are participants in the
solicitation of proxies in favor of the merger from the shareholders of
National City. Information about the directors and executive officers of
National City is included in the proxy statement for its 2008 annual
meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 7, 2008.
Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation
and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security
holdings or otherwise, is contained in the proxy statement for National
City's September 15, 2008 special meeting of shareholders, which was filed
with the SEC on August 4, 2008. Additional information regarding the
interests of such participants will be included in the joint proxy
statement/prospectus and the other relevant documents filed with the SEC
when they become available.

    The directors, executive officers, and certain other members of
management and employees of PNC are participants in the solicitation of
proxies in favor of the merger from the shareholders of PNC. Information
about the directors and executive officers of PNC is included in the proxy
statement for its 2008 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with
the SEC on March 28, 2008. Additional information regarding the interests
of such participants will be included in the joint proxy
statement/prospectus and the other relevant documents filed with the SEC
when they become available.



SOURCE The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.




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Related links:
  • http://www.pnc.com
  • http://www.nationalcity.com
    Photo Notes:
    NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081024/NEF023
    http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000307/PHTU015
    AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org AP PhotoExpress
    Network: PRN4 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
  • http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/701257.html/
    CONTACT:
    PNC; Media: Brian Goerke, +1-412-762-4550,
    corporate.communications@pnc.com, or Investors: William H.
    Callihan, +1-412-762-8257, investor.relations@pnc.com; or
    National City, Media: Kristen Baird Adams, +1-216-222-8202,
    Kristen.BairdAdams@nationalcity.com, or Investors: Jill
    Hennessey, +1-216-222-9253, investor.relations@nationalcity.com