In Brief: Ohio's Nat City in Deal for Mortgage Bank

National City Mortgage, a unit of National City Corp., is expected to announce today that it plans to buy the assets of AccuBanc Mortgage Corp., a Dallas home lender, sources said.

Cohane Rafferty Securities Inc., a White Plains, N.Y., investment banking boutique, arranged the deal, the sources said. A National City Corp. spokesman declined to comment, and AccuBanc executives could not be reached to comment.

The deal would boost Cleveland-based National City into the top 10 originators. It originated $19 billion last year, and AccuBanc, a unit of IFS Financial Corp., originated $12.45 billion. -- Marc Hochstein

WINCHESTER, Va. -- F&M National Corp. said Wednesday it has a deal to buy State Bank of the Alleghenies in Covington, Va., for $53.3 million of stock.

State Bank has $156 million of assets and three branches in two western Virginia counties. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter.

Terms call for F&M to exchange 0.554 to 0.651 share of its common stock for each share of State Bank stock in a tax-free pooling of interests. State Bank would change its name to F&M Bank-Highlands and become an affiliate of the holding company. F&M, with $2.9 billion of assets, currently operates seven banks in Virginia, one in West Virginia, and one in Maryland. -- Louis Whiteman