Regulators with the Office of Thrift Supervision have approved the sale of BankAtlantic Bancorp's Tampa operations to PNC Bank, a deal now expected to close the first week of June.

The selloff, as announced in February, includes 19 bay area branches with roughly $350 million in deposits, plus two related facilities in the region. Hit with heavy real estate losses, Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic is pulling out of Tampa Bay to focus on its core South Florida franchise.

Pittsburgh-based PNC currently has about 100 branches in Florida, most along the East Coast corridor. Customers of the affected branches will be contacted by PNC before the transfer, BankAtlantic said.