PNC Financial Services Group has agreed to pay $403 million for Hamilton, N.J.-based Yardville National Bancorp, strengthening its market position in a wealthy part of New Jersey.

Yardville has $3 billion in assets, compared to PNC's $123 billion.

The deal, which gives PNC 33 new branches in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, comes three months after PNC paid $6 billion for Baltimore-based Mercantile Bankshares, a blue-blood institution in Maryland and Virginia.

Yardville's branches can be found in some of the highest income areas in the U.S.

The purchase is expected to close in the fourth quarter, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

First Published: June 7, 2007, 8:15 p.m.