BB&T Insurance Unit to Buy Georgia Agency

BB&T Insurance Services Inc. said it will expand its Georgia operation with the acquisition of independent agency Pruden Risk Management Inc. of Dalton, Chatsworth and Alpharetta. BB&T Insurance Services already operates three Georgia agencies: Alpharetta-based Huffines-Russell & Associates, Macon-based Macon Insurance Associates and Ingram-McDaniel & Associates of Thomaston.

``One of our strategic objectives is to build a network of agencies in Georgia as strong as the one we have in the Carolinas and Virginia,'' said Wade Reece, president of BB&T Insurance Services. ``Pruden Risk Management is a solid agency with great people that will allow us to extend our high quality insurance services into a growth market in northwest Georgia.''

The transaction is expected to be completed in August. Terms were not disclosed.

Clay Chambless, a commercial insurance producer at Pruden, will be named vice president and agency manager. Pruden's Chris Hayes will join the BB&T- Huffines-Russell agency in Alpharetta as a vice president and commercial insurance producer.

``This combination will mean that our customers will have access to a wider range of products at competitive prices, while retaining the personal relationships they've developed with their agents,'' Chambless said. ``It's great to be aligning with a highly respected, customer-oriented organization like BB&T.''

Raleigh-based BB&T Insurance Services, a subsidiary of Branch Banking & Trust Company, operates 52 agencies: 26 in North Carolina, 19 in Virginia, four in South Carolina and three in Georgia.