CA-Based Bank Buys Fleet Branch, Plans Midtown Move

NEW YORK CITY-A California-based bank is making its first out-of-state expansion with the acquisition of a Fleet National Bank branch in Newburgh, NY. Later this week, the company will move its operation to Midtown.

City National Corp., parent company of City National Bank, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fleet’s Newburgh branch. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2002, at which point City National will pick up stakes and move to an upper floor of an as-yet-undisclosed Midtown office property. The purchase price has not been released.

“What we’re doing is focusing on serving our bicoastal clients,” a City National spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com. “Many of our entertainment industry clients need to better access our services, and they’ll be better able to do that through this one private banking office in Midtown.” No further expansion is planned.

Fleet was looking to consolidate its Newburgh operations and welcomed the offer from City National. “We were already consolidation, due to changing usage patterns of our customers and the fact that we have another branch a quarter of a mile away,” a Fleet spokesperson tells GlobeSt.com.