In Brief: Pa. Company Widens Foothold in Florida

the Florida banking scene. F.N.B. Corp. this week agreed to buy Naples-based Mercantile Bank of Southwest Florida in a cash deal worth about $14 million-about 1.58 times Mercantile's book value. It's the fourth Florida bank deal for $2.4 billion-asset F.N.B., which has decided its fortunes lie in the booming Sun Belt state and not in its Rust Belt home. F.N.B. has bought two Florida bank holding companies this year. In April, it acquired West Coast Bancorp, parent of First National Bank of Southwest Florida, and in January, Southwest Banks Inc., parent of Cape Coral National Bank and First National Bank of Naples. Under the agreement with $109 million-asset Mercantile, F.N.B. would merge it into First National Bank of Naples. This would create a bank with more than $560 million of assets. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. F.N.B. said it also plans to close its pending acquisition of Indian Rocks State Bank, Largo, Fla., in the fourth quarter.

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