Shares in the company soared to a high of $2.73 during trading on Thursday, after closing at $2.23 on Wednesday, on the report; later in the morning, the shares were up 17 cents or 7.6 percent to $2.40.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc , Pennsylvania's largest bank, and Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia are among the potential bidders, the paper said, citing people familiar with the situation.

A NatCity spokeswoman declined to comment specifically on the story. "National City is a strong, stable and well-capitalized institution," she said.

Officials from PNC and Scotiabank could not immediately be reached for comment.

Cleveland-based National City is viewed as one of the weaker regional banks hard-hit by the credit crunch, and unlike fellow strugglers Washington Mutual Inc or Wachovia Corp it has not yet found a buyer.

The bank has major presences in Ohio, Michigan and Florida, areas that have been devastated by the housing crisis. The bank's shares have fallen more than 80 percent this year.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay in New York, with additional reporting by Savio D'Souza in Bangalore, Paritosh Bansal in New York and Lynn Olver in Toronto)