Spanish Bank to Buy Texas Bank, Mortgage Sub

Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has agreed to buy Texas-based Laredo National Bancshares Inc. and its national residential mortgage lending subsidiary, Homeowners Loan Corp., for $850 million.BBVA's announcement about the planned purchase of the Texas company, which specializes in serving the Hispanic market along the U.S.-Mexican border, follows closely on the heels of a BBVA report indicating that the Spanish company also plans to purchase Mexico's biggest privately owned mortgage lender, Hipotecaria Nacional, for $375 million. BBVA can be found online at http://www.bbva.pt.