National City stockholders bemoan deal
National City Bank stockholders say they are upset by the bank’s probable sale to PNC Financial Services Group Inc. of Pittsburgh.
In papers filed with the Federal Reserve when the central bank sought public comments on the proposed acquisition of National City by PNC, 96 people weighed in, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Sunday.
Among them was Marianne Cosgrove’s family, which has been saving National City stock since the 1880s.
About 15 years ago, the 96-year-old Atlanta woman inherited 3,620 shares from her sister and she promised not to sell them. She reportedly watched the stock’s value go from more than $100,000 to about $6,300.
This has really hurt me financially,
Cosgrove said. My husband is dead, and I don’t have that much income, and things have gotten so expensive.
The newspaper said shareholders of both banks are likely to sign off on the deal Tuesday. PNC is buying National City for $5.6 billion, or $2.23 a share for a bank that was worth 15 times as much last year.
I could be wrong, of course, but National City Bank seemed to be in good enough shape to have survived if PNC hadn’t come along like greedy old Mr. Potter in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and squashed its little competitor,
wrote Priscilla Hefner of Cleveland.