Cleveland, Pittsburgh Banks To Merge

National City Corp., a diversified financial services concern, has agreed to buy the Pittsburgh-based bank holding company Integra Financial Corp. for $2.1 billion in stock, the companies said Monday.

The deal would create a company with about $50 billion in assets.

National City, which is based in Cleveland, said the deal would help it expand into an adjacent market whose population resembles its own.

“This acquisition is consistent with our previous stated growth plans and is a logical and attractive opportunity for National City,” said David A. Daberko, National City’s president and chief executive.

He called the purchase a “natural extension into an adjacent market that is culturally and demographically similar to our existing markets.”

National City operates banks and other financial services subsidiaries primarily in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Integra operates primarily in western Pennsylvania.