BB&T Corp., the ninth-largest U.S. bank by deposits, may consider acquisitions in Maryland and Texas to reach at least a No. 5 market share in those states, chief executive officer Kelly King said.
"We need a little work in Maryland," King, 63, said in an interview Wednesday. "We are just getting started in Texas, and so you would expect over time to see us be willing to consider acquisitions" of between $3 billion and $15 billion, he said.
BB&T has acquired more than 35 community banks and thrifts since 1995, according to the Winston-Salem, N.C., company's website. The lender said this week that it agreed to buy Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.'s retail-lending unit, adding about $2.1 billion in loans and $3.3 billion in deposits. King said last month that acquisitions ranked third among choices for how the company would use its capital, behind "organic growth" and dividends.
BB&T aims to be "top-five in market share" among the states it serves and to increase lending as credit improves, King said.
It ranked seventh in Maryland with 6.5% of the market, and fifth in Florida with almost 15%, according to the most recent data compiled by Bloomberg Industries. The bank is still a small player in Texas, with less than two-dozen branches and just 0.2% of the state's deposits, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.
BB&T has more than 1,800 locations in 12 states and Washington, D.C., according to its website. The BankAtlantic deal will add 78 branches and boost its share of the Miami market to sixth, BB&T said this week in a statement.
"Our primary focus is always on our organic growth, and we try to supplement that with strategic mergers when they make sense," King said.
