BB&T to Acquire Liberty Benefit in California

BB&T Insurance Services is acquiring San Jose-based Liberty Benefit Insurance Services.

Liberty will operate as BB&T-Liberty Benefit Insurance Services. The acquisition adds 25 employees to BB&T Insurance Services, BB&T said.

The transaction is expected to be completed Oct. 1. Terms were not disclosed.

Liberty is an employee benefits broker that often partners with commercial clients in the San Francisco Bay Area to help manage healthcare costs, regulations and benefits administration.

BB&T Insurance Services entered California in 2008 with its acquisition of San Diego-based UnionBanc Insurance Services. BB&T Insurance Services now operates California agencies in Folsom, Fullerton, Glendale, Irvine, Pleasanton, San Diego and San Francisco.

“BB&T takes a long-term view in its business strategy,” said Martin Loth, president and CEO of BB&T Insurance Services of California. “We want to invest in vital and culturally compatible partners. We’re fortunate that our parent is well capitalized and motivated to expand in our industry.”

Liberty touts its expertise in technology, carrier relationships, and services like plan analysis, human resources consulting and financial auditing.

“We’re essentially the optimal extension of a large company’s human resources, benefits and risk management departments– focused on expense reduction and a preeminent level of customer service,” Dixon Greer , president of Liberty Benefit Insurance Services, said in a statement.

BB&T Insurance Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based financial services holding company BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT). Its stock was down 2.3 percent at $20.51 in midday trading.

Topics California Mergers & Acquisitions