Huntington President Leaving to Open Own Firm

Zuheir Sofia, the Lebanese-born banker once considered the likely successor to the chairmanship of Huntington Bancshares, said he will resign June 30 to start his own company.

Mr. Sofia was one of the architects of the Columbus, Ohio, company's high-tech approach to banking and has been instrumental in managing its growth through acquisitions.

He will relinquish his posts as president and chief operating officer to start a consulting firm, Sofia & Co.

Huntington chairman and chief executive officer Frank Wobst will add the president's title, and Mr. Sofia's duties will be divided among several executives.

Mr. Sofia, 53, had been the No. 2 executive since 1984. He played down the succession issue at $26 billion-asset Huntington as a factor in his resignation, saying he was simply pursuing a lifelong ambition to run a company.

"I really feel I played a very important role," Mr. Sofia said of his 27 years at Huntington. "The best time to fix your roof is when it's not raining. Most people don't depart at their peak, and I really feel I am departing at my peak."

Clearly, Mr. Sofia was no longer considered the front-runner for CEO. Mr. Wobst, 64, has not announced retirement plans or recommended a successor.

It is widely believed the next chairman will be one of two vice chairmen-Peter E. Geier, 40, or Ronald J. Seiffert, 41. The two were promoted from executive vice president in December 1996.

Mr. Sofia's is not the first high-level departure in recent years. In August 1996 W. Lee Hoskins, chief executive of Huntington National Bank, announced he would resign. Mr. Hoskins, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, was considered a potential successor to Mr. Wobst.

After Mr. Hoskins' announcement, Mr. Sofia became the front-runner.

But Mr. Wobst has been secretive about his retirement plans. His contract runs through November 2001. Huntington has no mandatory retirement age.

Mr. Sofia joined Huntington's international department in 1971 from First Union Corp. The son of a lawyer, he came to the United States in 1964 to attend Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

During summers he worked as a part-time credit analyst at First Union in Charlotte, N.C. He joined First Union full-time upon graduation and took a leave from the bank to get a master's degree in economics at Washington University in St. Louis.

He became a U.S. citizen in the early 1970s.

Author of a book on Third World debt, Mr. Sofia was originally drawn to Huntington's international banking department, but he worked his way up through a number of business areas.

Mr. Sofia "was really the guy who led the technology and alternative delivery strategy," said Timothy Willi, an analyst at A.G. Edwards Inc. in St. Louis. But he added that Mr. Sofia "looked at the company and asked, 'If I'm not going to get a chance to run Huntington in the next five years, what do I do?'"

"We would have liked to have Mr. Sofia continue with us," Mr. Wobst said, "but we respect his wishes to choose a second career at this time."

Mr. Sofia's investment advisory company, to be based in Columbus, will offer advice to banks and other companies on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and asset/liability management. His first client will be Huntington. Mr. Sofia said he would help the company on bank and nonbank acquisitions.

"I think I'm a good dealmaker," he said. "I think I have good foresight in this business."

Mr. Sofia said one thing definitely not in his future is going to another bank. "At this point in my career, I do not feel I'd like to join another large company," he said.

Mr. Sofia will remain a Huntington director.

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