Credit Card Company Enters MainlineBanking

McLEAN, Va. - (03/08/05) -- Capital One Corp., the nation'ssecond largest credit card bank, said it will expand its presencein financial services with the acquisition of New Orleans-baseHibernia Corp., for $5.35 billion. The deal for Hibernia, which has$21 billion in assets, gives Capital One a new source of low-costfunding and a network of 300 branches in Louisiana and Texas tohelp expand the company's credit card and other businesses. CapitalOne, which was originally spun off from Signet Bank, has almost $80billion in managed loans and is the second largest credit cardbank, behind MBNA, which claims $110 billion in assets.