SAN PAOLO DI TORINO TO ACQUIRE CALIFORNIAN BANK Italian state bank <Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino> said its fully-owned <San Paolo U.S. Holding Co> of Wilmington in the U.S. had signed a letter of intent to acquire <Valley National Bank> of California. San Paolo said in a statement that, subject to obtaining official authorization from the relevant bodies, it would merge Valley National Bank with its subsidiary <First Los Angeles Bank>. Value of the planned acquisition was not disclosed.