BB&T Corp. said Wednesday that it selling at least $200 million of trust-preferred securities to fund growth initiatives such as acquisitions.
Bob Denham, a spokesman for the $136 billion-asset Winston-Salem, N.C., company, said that the funds were being raised from a "position of strength," and that the effort is not related to any issues with credit quality. Specifically, the capital could be used to buy community banks, insurance companies, and asset managers "as we come out of a down economy," he said. The capital may also be used to support balance sheet growth, he said.
Last week BB&T said Kelly King, its chief operating officer, would succeed John A. Allison as the chief executive at yearend. Mr. King said in an interview that BB&T would consider making bank acquisitions as early as next spring if economic conditions showed signs of improvement.
