Encore Bancshares in Houston said Friday that it had received regulatory approval to sell certain operations in Florida to Ovation Holdings Inc. Encore Bank, the company's $1.6 billion-asset subsidiary, is to be relieved from capital-raising requirements related to its Florida operations. Encore said it expects a gain of about $2.6 million on the sale, which it expects to close Dec. 31. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board approved Ovation's application to buy National Bank of Southwest Florida, a $35 million-asset Encore unit in Port Charlotte, Fla. Regulators also approved plans for National Bank to assume $187.4 million in deposits and buy $66.3 million in assets from four private-client offices in southwest Florida owned by Encore. This is subject to a capital requirement for Ovation. Ovation, based in Naples, Fla., plans to become a bank holding company once the deal closes.