MADRID (Reuters) - Caja Madrid said on Monday it had agreed to buy 83 percent of the company that owns City National Bank of Florida for $927 million cash, the latest in a run of expansions in the southern United States by Spanish banks.

Spain's second largest savings bank said the deal valued City National Bank of Florida at 16.3 times earnings per share and 3.4 times book value, which it said was in line with the price other Spanish banks have paid.

In the last few years, BBVA (BBVA.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) has bought four banks in the sunbelt states, Sabadell (SABE.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) bought Florida-based TransAtlantic Bank and BBVA's Miami private banking arm and Banco Popular (POP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) bought TotalBank, also in Florida.

Caja Madrid already has a corporate bank branch in Miami.

It said City National Bank of Florida focused on business financing and was the sixth biggest private bank in Florida. It had assets of $2.76 billion and net profit of $68.5 million last year.

It has 19 branches in Miami, which has a high percentage of Spanish-speaking inhabitants and is a gateway to millions of potential clients in Latin America. Caja Madrid said it planned to expand into Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.

Separately, Spanish media reported Caja Madrid planned to group its unlisted holdings, including City National Bank of Florida, into a new unit worth about 2.5 billion euros ($3.95 billion) and float part of it on the stock exchange.

The holding company would not include Caja Madrid's stakes in listed companies like Iberia (IBLA.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), the reports said.

Caja Madrid declined to comment.