Caja Madrid Group, the fourth-largest financial services company in Spain, has a deal to acquire an 83% stake in City National Bancshares of Miami, the parent of City National Bank of Florida, for $927 million.
The price values City National Bancshares at $1.117 billion, or about 3.4 times book value.
The $250 billion-asset Caja Madrid, which already has 19 bank branches in the Miami area, said Monday that buying City National would help jump-start a planned expansion into more Florida markets with high concentrations of Spanish-speaking residents.
City National has 18 bank branches and offices in southern Florida.
Caja Madrid previously said it wants to expand into Tampa, Jacksonville, and Orlando.
D. Miguel Blesa de la Parra, the Spanish company's chairman, said in a press release that the deal for City National "represents a great opportunity to significantly expand our operation" in the United States.
"Miami and the Florida markets are very attractive," Mr. Blesa de la Parra said.
Several Spanish banking companies have made deals recently to expand their U.S. operations. In September, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA expanded here by acquiring Compass Bancshares Inc. of Birmingham, Ala.
"It's clear there are large and growing Hispanic populations in Florida, and that's a big appeal to these Spanish companies," James M. Schutz, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach Inc., said in an interview Monday.
Caja Madrid said it does not anticipate making any changes in City National's name, its senior management, or its operations.
City National's top executive, Leonard Abess, would remain the chairman and chief executive of the Miami banking operation and would retain 17% ownership.
Neither Mr. Blesa de la Parra nor Mr. Abess could be reached immediately for an interview late Monday.
In acquiring City National, Caja Madrid would gain the sixth-largest private bank in Florida. At the end of last year City National had $2.76 billion of assets, and it posted a net profit of $68.5 million for the year.
The deal has been approved by the boards of both City National and Caja Madrid, and it is subject to regulatory approval in Spain and the United States.
The City National deal is expected to close this year.
