BB&T’s Aggressive Expansion Plan Includes Mergers, Acquisitions

BB&T Corporation, the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based financial services company with strong insurance interests, is maintaining its strategy of expansion across the southern U.S. by agreeing in principle to merge with Birmingham, Ala.-based Cooney Rikard & Curtin Inc. (CRC), the nation’s largest independent wholesale insurance broker, and has announced several other acquisitions over the past several weeks.

CRC provides property, casualty, and professional insurance company placements to commercial clients, and is expected to generate $575 million in revenues for 2001. Founded in 1982, the company operates in 45 states, and has regional offices in Los Angeles; Redondo Beach, Calif.; Houston; Chicago, Metairie, La.; and Boca Raton, Fla. CRC also plans to open an office in Atlanta in the first quarter of 2002.

“At CRC, we have established a solid reputation and record of excellence in the wholesale insurance arena,” stated Tom Curtin, president and chief executive officer of CRC. “Merging with BB&T will give us tremendous opportunities to grow our business organically, while allowing us to attract top-notch insurance professionals countrywide.”

The company will keep its present name, and will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of BB&T Corporation, separate from BB&T Insurance Services. CRC’s 260 employees will continue in their present roles. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but it is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“This merger with CRC continues to demonstrate our long-term commitment to building a very large, diverse insurance operation within BB&T,” stated BB&T COO Henry Williamson. “CRC has shown tremendous growth and superior management that will remain in place to ensure continuance as the premier wholesale insurance broker in the United States.”

Another BB&T subsidiary, Raleigh, N.C.-based BB&T Insurance Services, which is the largest retail broker in the Carolinas and Virginia and 10th largest in the country, unveiled plans to expand in South Carolina through the acquisition of U.S. Insurance Services Inc., a Greenville-based provider of property and casualty insurance for residential homebuilders.

BB&T Insurance Services president Wade Reece noted that acquiring U.S. Insurance Services will enable the company to build on a very important niche in the insurance business of providing property and casualty coverage to building contractors. U.S. Insurance Services will merge with Greenville-based BB&T-Goldsmith Joyner and will keep its current employees. The acquisition is expected to be completed in November.

BB&T Insurance Services operates 32 agencies in North Carolina, 19 in Virginia, six in Georgia, four in South Carolina, three in Maryland, two in West Virginia and one in Tennessee.

BB&T Corporation also continued to expand its banking presence across the South, announcing the planned acquisition of MidAmerica Bancorp of Louisville, Ky., in a $372.4 million transaction. MidAmerica Bancorp operates 30 branches in the Louisville metropolitan area through subsidiary Bank of Louisville. BB&T chairman and CEO John Allison stated, “This is a key acquisition because it gives us significant entry into the most attractive banking market in Kentucky.”

In addition, BB&T plans to buy Owensboro, Ky.-based AREA Bancshares Corporation, whose subsidiary AREA Bank operates 72 branches in 39 communities across the state, in a $450.6 million stock swap. Besides banking, AREA Bancshares also operates a trust company and a retail brokerage. “AREA Bancshares Corporation is a high-quality community bank dedicated to the highest standards of client service,” according to Allison. “This acquisition provides BB&T with a solid statewide presence in economically attractive Kentucky markets.”

Both mergers should be completed in the second quarter of 2002. Upon completion of these acquisitions, BB&T’s assets in Kentucky will total more than $5 billion, and the company’s market share will increase to fourth place in the state. This is in keeping with the company’s strategy of being in the top five in each of its markets. Three new banking regions will be formed in Kentucky: one in Louisville, made of MidAmerica’s branches, and two more formed by AREA Bancshare’s operations. MidAmerica and AREA Bancshares customers will be able to utilize BB&T’s various financial services, including insurance, mutual funds, trust, online and investment banking, annuities, and retail brokerage.

BB&T also acquired The Southeastern Trust Co., a Greenville, S.C.-based trust and asset management firm, expanding the company’s BB&T Trust division’s market position in that state. With more than $700 million in assets under management, The Southeastern Trust Company has offices in Anderson, Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville. Its principals and current employees will remain with BB&T. The transaction will be accounted for as a purchase; terms were not disclosed.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions USA Agencies Virginia Insurance Wholesale Kentucky