Evergrey

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/12/15/focus4.html?b=1229317200^1746284 PNC's next big move could be in Washington, D.C., area, analysts believe Pittsburgh Business Times - by Patty Tascarella Midway through the Oct. 24 conference for analysts on PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s $5.6 billion acquisition of National City Corp., a question about further purchases gave even James Rohr pause. PNC’s chairman and CEO started talking about its full plate, with the biggest deal in its history set to close by later this month and a nearly two-year integration to follow. But the enormity of the deal was eclipsed by the massive changes in the banking industry itself, and Rohr amended his comments. “You never say never,” Rohr said. Given the uncertain economy and the hits the banking sector has taken, it’s likely more large banks will look for buyers, or the government will play matchmaker, analysts believe. PNC was an avid, if targeted, acquirer — National City marks PNC’s fourth acquisition in three years — so the question about further purchases doesn’t begin with “if.” It’s where, when and, most elusive of all, who. PNC declined comment for this article. In past ones dealing with its expansion plans, Rohr’s persistent comment was that PNC likes to “fill out the franchise,” opting for contiguous markets. Even though Ohio was an obvious gap in the PNC geographic footprint — PNC basically stopped at the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, then held significant market share in the Cincinnati-Louisville, Ky., area — analysts described the region as too low-growth to interest PNC. Instead, it focused on fill-ins in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, and made the splashier deals in the Washington, D.C., region, where it acquired Riggs National Corp. and Mercantile Bankshares Corp., for which it paid $6 billion, its highest price tag to date. “If National City hadn’t been priced the way it was, and as wounded as it was, I’m sure PNC wouldn’t have considered that (geographic) market,” said Matthew Schultheis, a financial analyst at Conshohocken, Pa.-based investment firm Boenning & Scattergood Inc. who covers PNC. “If National City had been in Virginia, it would have been much more tempting. I believe they’re still focused on shoring up some of the branch presence they need in Virginia and maybe that pushes them a little further south.” Barring extreme circumstances, most analysts believe PNC will want to continue buying and building in the fast-growing Washington, D.C., area. “Mercantile and Riggs were helpful, but aren’t quite big enough to get them over the critical mass hump for branch presence, and they’re trying to build the small business and retail business and that requires branch locations because these businesses are branch dependent,” Schultheis said. As of June 30, PNC ranked eighth in deposits in the Washington metropolitan area, with a market share of 4.28 percent. It operates 138 branches there, about 40 more than it has in the Pittsburgh area. “PNC will be the dominant bank between New York and Chicago, so geographically, I think their next move would be in the southeast,” said Brian Koble, senior research analysts at Hefren-Tillotson, a Downtown-based investment firm. The wild card is the economy and the measures the government takes to fix it. “The strong banks are being presented things that are once in a lifetime,” said Thomas McCrohan, director of equity research at Philadelphia-based investment firm Janney Montgomery Scott. “More acquisitions is going to be one of the outcomes of all the government meetings. The strong will take over the weak.” That’s tempered by the integration process with National City. Normally, PNC takes nine months to close an acquisition, with sign changes and technology synchronizations yet to come. “If National City integrates smoothly, I think they’d be emboldened to be a little more ambitious,” Koble said. “For PNC to become more aggressive in terms of pursuing another buyout opportunity, we’d have to have another set of extraordinary circumstances. If this crisis persists for another year, another 18 months, the government would go to a strong bank, like PNC, and then support a purchase of a bank that might be against the ropes.” Barring that, PNC is likely to concentrate on absorbing National City. “When a boa constrictor swallows a mouse, it can eat another mouse soon,” Schultheis said. “When it swallows a goat, that takes a while to digest.” [email protected] | (412) 208-3832 All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

the Cincinnati Bengals just notched their third non-losing result of the season, yet nobody here is talking about it? :(

Let's face it: Pittsburgh owns the Browns Monday, December 15, 2008 1:18 AM EST It utterly pains me to admit it, but I'm green with envy of Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Since the return of the Cleveland Browns in 1999, most Browns fans have realized the Steelers have been running circles around our boys in brown and orange and laughing at us in the process. We've realized it — Browns fans are masochists, not idiots — but most of us just haven't admitted it publicly. More at http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2008/12/15/sports/mj354993.txt

Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Baltimore Ravens, clinching the 2008 AFC North championship

Cleveland Browns (4-9) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-5-1), 8:30 p.m. ET Monday The Browns mercifully play their fifth and final prime-time game of the 2008 season on "Monday Night Football" when they travel to play the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be the Browns' (4-9) third Monday game of the season. Cleveland was expected to be a team on the rise when the NFL and its television partners decided to give the Browns five prime-time games after a 10-6 run in 2007. But it's been mostly a train-wreck season for the Browns where everything has gone wrong and they've lost 9 of 13 games. More at http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nflnation?tag=audibles%20afc%2015

whoa... Cadillac Ranch looks sweet

anyone leasing this building yet, DJ Orion?

h/t MayDay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK3cww8A2XU

excellent points concerning Blue Ash, David

May I ask...why? They're a new location, they kinda have to be in the business of making money, and the person responding even said they're not against being open later....just not yet. because I couldn't resist making a really stupid joke

Snow is hardly "hell".

Huh?

more like Joe Stupid

the Pride of the Big East is in your hands, Bearkats!

Every time I eat Chipotle... I feel terrible the rest of the day... I think I'm never gonna eat there again Moe's Southwest Grille's burritos seriously lack flavor... pretty blah Qdoba... what's the point?

I believe I just read that Columbus has had a job increase in the past month. month-to-month job increase figures aren't that important... year-over-year job increases are much more useful... and yes... Columbus employment grew 0.5% year-over-year for Oct. 2008... year-over-year limits seasonal employment factors (such as teen labor force shrinking in Sept.; holiday retail expansion in Nov., etc.) ... Unemployment rate is another metric I'm loathe to use... as it measures something very specific... and not necessarily how many people are truly... unemployed The rate can also be affected by either job losses (bad thing)... or labor force expansion outstripping job creation (can be a good thing, i.e. population growth)

Your wish is my command.

another useless study http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/106244/Players-Shift,-but-Twin-Cities-Still-Best-for-Business "MarketWatch names best cities for business!" 1. Minneapolis-St. Paul 2. Boston 3. Denver 4. Washington, D.C. 5. Richmond 6. Charlotte 7. Columbus 8. Nashville 9. Dallas 10. San Francisco 11. New York 12. Houston 13. Salt Lake City 14. Seattle 15. Atlanta 16. Milwaukee 17. St. Louis 18. Raleigh 19. Birmingham 20. Kansas City 21. Jacksonville 22. Oklahoma City 23. Memphis 24. Indianapolis 25. Pittsburgh 26. Cleveland 27. Chicago 28. Austin 29. Philadelphia 30. Portland 31. Phoenix 32. San Diego 33. Louisville 34. Baltimore 35. Hartford 36. Orlando 37. Cincinnati 38. Las Vegas 39. Providence 40. Miami 41. San Antonio 42. Virginia Beach 43. Detroit 44. Tampa-St. Petersburg 45. Los Angeles 46. Rochester 47. Sacramento 48. Tucson 49. Buffalo 50. New Orleans

well... No. 5 BizJournals darling Phoenix has experienced the 2nd worst rate of year-over-year job loss for Oct. 2008 (after Detroit)...

has anyone taken a look at the top 25 cities? almost every one of those non-cities is totally awful... Houston? Wichita? Ogden, Utah? Lakeland, Florida? MCALLEN, TEXAS! BLECH!

wow... close one against the Rainbow Warriors!

Beaumont

Corridor financing gains focus By PAUL GIANNAMORE, Business editor WEST LAFAYETTE - With the state budget strained and the Ohio Department of Transportation short of cash to consider planning for new highways, the Columbus to Pittsburgh Corridor Committee will use its next meeting to discuss innovative financing. Among the proposals that could be discussed is turning to the Ohio Turnpike Commission for help financing completion of the four-lane road network stretching across seven counties, including Harrison and Jefferson, to connect via U.S. Route 22 to Pittsburgh. The committee met Friday at the Ravens Glen Winery on U.S. Route 36 near Coshocton and received an update on how ODOT will be ranking future highway projects for use of federal and state funds. Traffic no longer will be the sole driving force. Full article at http://www.hsconnect.com/page/content.detail/id/512805.html?nav=5010

the 80s had a lot of great music... though it tends to be grossly misrepresented today by silly 1-hit wonders and kitschy novelty hits (Banarama, "Relax", etc.) I do hate the way 80s music went overboard with the loud drum machines... real drumming... made by humans... certainly took a back seat after the huge drumming advancements of the 70s (technique and especially production)

I loathe 90s music... specifically '93-'99... 00s mainstream music might be even worse... but there's better underground stuff going on today in the genres I care about... the 90s were very lean