BB&T Insurance Services to acquire southwest Florida agency

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- BB&T Insurance Services, the nation's seventh largest insurance broker, today said it has expanded its southwest Florida operation with the acquisition of Oswald Trippe and Company Inc. of Fort Myers.

The acquisition comes on the heels of BB&T Corporation's acquisition in August of Colonial Bank, which expanded BB&T's presence in southwest Florida. The Oswald Trippe transaction was completed Monday. Terms were not disclosed.

One of the largest privately owned insurance agencies in southwest Florida, Oswald Trippe provides commercial property and casualty; employee benefits; individual life and health, personal lines; and professional liability protection to businesses and individuals throughout Florida.

"We have known Oswald Trippe for quite some time as an outstanding competitor," said Wade Reece, chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Insurance Services. "With the recent growth of BB&T in southwest Florida following the Colonial acquisition, this is a perfect combination and an outstanding addition to our Florida insurance franchise."

In addition to its Fort Myers headquarters, Oswald Trippe has offices in Cape Coral, Miami, Naples, Sarasota, Holmes Beach, Weston and Ocala. It also operates four offices in North Carolina that were not part of the BB&T Insurance acquisition.

OTC was founded in 1982 by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Trippe and his wife, Gay Trippe, and James Pender, honorary chairman of corporate partner The Oswald Companies of Cleveland, Ohio. The company has about 130 employees in Florida.

"BB&T Insurance is known to treat its clients, employees and their communities as treasured assets, which matches up with our culture very well," Gary Trippe said. "Add that to the fact that our companies had very similar growth plans for Florida, and you're left with a combination that made too much sense not to pursue."

Trippe will remain with BB&T-Oswald Trippe in a client and community relationships and management consulting role. Agency President John Pollock will serve as agency manager and report to BB&T Insurance Regional Manager Rick Iler.

BB&T Insurance Services also operates Florida agencies J. Rolfe Davis Insurance of metro Orlando; Burkey Risk Services of metro Orlando and Boynton Beach; BB&T-Iler Wall & Shonter of St. Petersburg; BB&T-Wyman, Green & Blalock of Bradenton; and BB&T-Landrum Yaeger of Tallahassee.

With the Colonial acquisition, BB&T created a new community bank region in Sarasota covering Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties. The region has deposits of $2.1 billion.

BB&T acquired $23 billion in assets and assumed $19 billion in deposits in the Colonial acquisition, creating the nation's eighth largest financial holding company by deposits. The Colonial acquisition moved BB&T to the No. 5 market share in Florida. With the acquisition, BB&T has about $14 billion in deposits and more than 300 branches in Florida.

BB&T Insurance Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Branch Banking and Trust Company. Founded in 1922, it operates more than 100 insurance agencies in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and California.

Branch Banking and Trust Company is the principal subsidiary of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT). With $165.3 billion in assets, BB&T operates more than 1,800 financial centers in 13 states and Washington, D.C. More information about the company is available at BBT.com.