City National Bank of Florida Announces Sale to Caja Madrid, Spain's Second Largest Savings Bank

Business Wire, April 14, 2008

Total Transaction Valued at $1.117 Billion; Leonard Abess to Remain as Chairman and CEO; No Change in Name or Management Team

MIAMI -- City National Bank of Florida, the second-oldest bank in Miami and one of the largest, most profitable banks in Florida, and its parent company, City National Bancshares, announced today a definitive agreement with Caja Madrid, the second largest savings bank in Spain and the fourth largest Spanish financial group, for the sale of 83% of its stock for $927 million. Leonard Abess will remain as Chairman and CEO and will retain 17% ownership. The purchase price values the total company at $1.117 billion.

No change in the bank's name, senior management or operations is anticipated. The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of each company and is subject to regulatory approval in Spain and the United States.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for City National Bank, our employees and our customers. By combining these two very strong financial institutions, we will take our resources and products to a new level," Abess said. "We share with Caja Madrid the goal of becoming Florida's largest home-based bank and will accelerate our current expansion around the state. We also share a banking philosophy based on conservative financial practices and a total focus on delivering the highest level of customer service.

"Caja Madrid, founded more than 300 years ago, knows that the most valuable capital is human capital. Unlike other mergers and acquisitions in our industry where employees and customers become disenfranchised, we intend to make our relationships even stronger.

"In addition, we are particularly pleased that Caja Madrid, a financial institution with a clear social vocation, reinvests in the community a portion of its profits as 'social dividends.' In 2008, it plans to spend up to $480 million on these programs and activities in Spain. City National Bank has always followed a similar tradition of community philanthropy, and will continue to do so."

D. Miguel Blesa de la Parra, Chairman of Caja Madrid, said: "This represents a great opportunity to significantly expand our operation into the United States. Miami and the Florida markets are very attractive to Caja Madrid and we are most fortunate to have found with City National Bank a very high quality partner. We believe that this bank and its management team are perfectly suited to serve as the foundation for our expansion into these new markets going forward. Mr. Abess and his team have done an outstanding job with City National and we look forward to working closely with him and the bank in the years ahead."

City National Bank corporate headquarters are located at 25 West Flagler Street, Miami. For more information, visit www.citynational.com.

About City National Bank:

Established in 1946 in Miami Beach, City National Bank is one of the largest community banks in the nation with more than $2.75 billion in assets, 400 employees, 18 banking offices throughout south Florida, and new locations opening in Stuart and Orlando. It has consistently ranked in the top 50 of all large U.S. banks in terms of profitability, productivity, efficiency and asset quality, and has received the highest Community Reinvestment Act Rating (CRA) three times.

About Caja Madrid:

Caja Madrid, which has doubled in size twice over the past decade, is the fourth largest financial group in Spain, with 2007 assets of $250 billion. It follows a universal banking model, offering a wide array of products and services in retail, investment and private banking throughout its 2,000 branch network in Spain.