BB&T Insurance Services to acquire South Carolina agency

RALEIGH, N.C., June 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BB&T Insurance Services, the nation's seventh largest insurance broker, today said it plans to expand its South Carolina operation with the acquisition of Carswell Insurance Services of Hilton Head Island.

Carswell provides commercial and personal property and casualty coverage as well as group benefits insurance to this rapidly growing coastal area. In addition to its main office on Hilton Head Island, Carswell also has an office in nearby Bluffton.

"We have long viewed the greater Hilton Head area as a very desirable addition to our franchise and simply had to wait until the ideal merger candidate was available," said Wade Reece, president of BB&T Insurance Services. "Carswell fits the bill perfectly considering both their market share and their reputation for outstanding client service."

The transaction is expected to be completed in early July. Terms were not disclosed. The agency will keep its staff of 45 employees.

Carswell of Carolina opened on Hilton Head Island in 1958, just as developers were beginning to turn the island town into what would become an international destination.

In the late 1990s, the company merged with Lighthouse Financial Services, which was later acquired by SunTrust. In 2006, Carswell partners Bill Thomas and John Vann re-acquired the firm. Thomas and Vann will be named agency managers with BB&T-Carswell and continue in their client relationship manager roles.

"Few firms know the Lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia's Coastal Empire region like Carswell Insurance Services," Thomas said. "And no one understands the volatility of the coastal insurance market better than BB&T Insurance Services. We believe that they will bring additional opportunities for us to do business in the coastal insurance environment.

"This should be the perfect combination. Our goal is to provide clients with the absolute best value in insurance coverage from reliable insurance carriers. We think we can do that better as part of BB&T Insurance. BB&T's reputation for taking care of its employees was another deciding factor in making this strategic decision."

BB&T Insurance Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Branch Banking and Trust Company. Founded in 1922, it operates five agencies in South Carolina and a total of 83 insurance agencies in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and Alabama.

Branch Banking and Trust Company is the principal subsidiary of Winston- Salem N.C.-based BB&T Corporation . With $121.7 billion in assets, BB&T Corp. is the nation's 12th largest financial holding company.

BB&T operates more than 1,470 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Washington, D.C. More information about BB&T Corp. is available at http://www.bbt.com/.