BB&T Unveils $139M Deal In Ga., Its 4th There in '99

Building up its base in Georgia, BB&T Corp. said Wednesday that it would buy Hardwick Holding Co. in Dalton for $138.7 million of stock.

The deal for Hardwick, which has $518 million of assets and nine branches in the northwestern suburbs of Atlanta, is BB&T's fourth in the state this year. The transaction, which is expected to close next spring, would bring the Georgia assets of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T to $4.6 billion and its branches in the state to 91.

The North Carolina company had no presence in Georgia before this year.

BB&T established itself in the Atlanta region when it bought Newnan-based First Citizens Corp. in July, and it expects to strengthen its presence in the region when it closes a deal for Premier Bancshares early next year. BB&T expects to close its deal for First Liberty Financial Corp. in central Georgia on Friday.

BB&T, which has $41.6 billion of assets, has now pledged more than $1.3 billion to buy Georgia banks. It also announced bank deals this year in West Virginia and Maryland and has bought several insurance agencies.

"They are using their strong currency the way they should be, to expand into fast-growing markets," said John B. Moore, a bank analyst at Wachovia Securities Inc. in Charlotte, N.C. The company can afford to be aggressive, he said, because "unlike many other holding companies, BB&T has a history of successful integrations."

Mr. Moore called the price for Hardwick -- 2.49 times its book value and 25.52 times earnings -- "a little steep. But there is so little left in Georgia of any size, I think there is some scarcity value built in."

John A. Allison, BB&T's chairman and chief executive officer, called Hardwick "a strong institution that will allow us to extend our branch distribution system from metro Atlanta into growth markets in northwest Georgia."

Christopher Marinac, an analyst at Robinson-Humphrey Co. in Atlanta, predicted that BB&T would not stop expanding in the region.

"I expect to hear more from them in Georgia in the coming months," he said. "BB&T realizes that they have a real opportunity to be a force in these markets over time."

Terms of the deal call for BB&T to exchange between 0.9010 and 0.9320 share of its common stock for each share of Hardwick in a tax-free pooling of interests. The company said it will take a $6.5 million, one-time charge for the deal and expects to be able to cut $5 million, or 25%, of Hardwick's expenses.

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