Short Takes: BB&T Buys Agency, Widening Va. Niche

Expanding its foothold in the Virginia insurance market, a BB&T Corp. subsidiary has acquired an independent agency serving seven towns, it announced last week.

The purchase of W.C. Brown Insurance Services Inc., Rocky Mount, Va., is expected to close by the end of March.

BB&T Insurance Services, Raleigh, N.C., has been rapidly building its insurance agency in recent years through the acquisition of property- casualty agencies like W.C. Brown.

As owner of more than 20 agencies in the Carolinas and Virginia, BB&T Insurance Services is targeting Tennessee and Georgia for additional expansion. It is among the nation's 30 largest sellers of insurance.

Like the others acquired by BB&T, the 65-year-old W.C. Brown agency will retain its name. Its 30 associates will remain with the firm.

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