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By Times staff and wires
Published July 12, 2006

Cleveland bank to buy one in Fort Pierce

National City Corp. said Tuesday it is acquiring Harbor Florida Bancshares Inc. of Fort Pierce for $1.1-billion in stock in a deal that will give National City, based in Cleveland, its first retail presence in Florida. Harbor Florida has assets of $3.2-billion and 40 branches along the central east coast of Florida, none in the Tampa Bay area. National City's operations in Florida have been limited to residential and commercial real estate lending, commercial finance and personal wealth management.

Merging banks pledge $100B investment

Regional Financial Corp. and the bank it is acquiring, AmSouth Bancorp, said they plan to invest at least $100-billion during the next seven years in the Southeast, Midwest and Texas. The funds will support community development, small-business lending and mortgage lending for low-income communities and borrowers, said the banks, both based in Birmingham, Ala., said in a joint statement. Regions on May 25 agreed to combine with AmSouth in a $10-billion transaction.

Web site tracks insurers' rate filings

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has just made it easier to find out online if your property insurance company has filed for a rate increase, and how it might effect you. McCarty said Tuesday that data from the Florida Public Hurricane Model is now available on the Office of Insurance Regulation's Web site. To check rate filings that regulators have acted upon, go to http://www.fldfs.com/edms/ and select Public Hurricane Model under Keywords. Find the company you're looking for and click on the file log number. Because many rate increases have not been approved, complete data for companies such as Nationwide and State Farm is not yet listed.

Tyrone mall manager resigns after 20 years

Lita Sargent, who filled several mall management roles for the owners of Tyrone Square Mall the past 20 years, has resigned. She and her husband, Southwest Florida Water Management District cartographer Frank Sargent, will move to Montrose, Colo. She will be working for Wells Fargo Commercial Realty.

GM boss says he's not against auto alliance

In a live interview on CNBC's Kudlow & Company on Tuesday, General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said that he is not against a proposed alliance with Renault and Nissan. In his first interview since billionaire shareholder Kirk Kerkorian proposed an alliance between GM, Renault of France and Nissan of Japan, Wagoner said his mind is completely open, but there aren't enough details available yet to make a judgment.

CORRECTION

Harvard Business School now says Theodore Levitt helped popularize the term "globalization." An obituary story on Mr. Levitt from the Associated Press that ran Friday overstated his connection to the term.

[Last modified July 12, 2006, 07:07:53]