Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:33am EST
* PNC to buy 19 Tampa-St. Petersburg branches
* To assume about $350 mln in deposits
* BankAtlantic to focus on Southeast Florida
* Deal expected to close in June
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Florida-based lender BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc (BBX.N) said it will sell its Tampa-St. Petersburg franchise to PNC Financial Services Group's (PNC.N) PNC Bank to focus on its Southeast Florida operations.
PNC Bank will buy 19 BankAtlantic branches and two related facilities in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and associated deposits of about $350 million.
PNC agreed to pay a premium for the deposits assumed plus the net book value of the acquired real estate and fixed assets, BankAtlantic said in a statement.
Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic, one of the biggest banks headquartered in Florida state, has run up heavy losses in recent years because of bad real estate loans.
BankAtlantic stock closed at $1.02 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Abhinav Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/bankatlantic-pncbank-idINSGE70U0B320110131