WSJ: PNC Financial (PNC) Might Make Play for National City (NCC)

Looks like National City (NCC) has put itself up for sale... we should see a major wave of consolidations over the coming year and the big will get bigger. So that in the next banking crisis every remaining bank will need to be bailed out.

• Cleveland-based National City Corp. may be the next bank to succumb to the current wave of consolidation in the financial industry, according to a report Thursday. The regional bank is in talks with a number of potential suitors -- including Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia -- about a possible sale, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
• Hurt by the mortgage meltdown, National City hired investment banker Goldman Sachs in January to help raise capital. In April, the bank arranged a deal with private equity investors to secure $7 billion in capital, and company officials have assured shareholders that it is now well capitalized and able to survive a troubled market.
• In a note to clients Thursday, BMO Capital Markets analyst Lana Chan noted National City's attractive valuation and better capital and reserve levels than its peers. On a combined basis, capital plus reserves equal 14 percent of total assets at National City, Chan said, which is above an average of 11 percent among the regional banks she covers.
• "National City should be one of the key beneficiaries of the enacted government bailout plan as it is one of the most exposed in our universe to distressed assets, and an increased cap on FDIC deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000 should increase confidence in the bank's deposits," Chan wrote.

Long PNC Financial Services in fund; no personal position