Wachovia Insurance Services has announced the purchases of Ingram-Brown & Associates and Gerald S. Smith & Co. Inc., employee benefit consulting firms based in Greensboro, N.C.
Both firms and their employees are to remain in Greensboro but operate under the Wachovia Insurance Services name, the parent Charlotte banking company said Thursday. The deals' prices were not disclosed.
"The addition of these two firms fits perfectly in our expansion strategy for North Carolina, especially in the Triad Region," Stewart McDowell, the president of Wachovia Insurance Services, said in a press release. "We welcome the expertise these professionals bring to our employee benefits team, and their presence in Greensboro reinforces our commitment to becoming North Carolina's preferred insurance broker and benefits adviser."
Wachovia Corp., with retail operations from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas, and retail securities brokerage operations nationwide, had assets of $506.8 billion, market capitalization of $80.3 billion, and stockholders' equity of $46.5 billion at March 31.
Wachovia Insurance extended its reach beyond that of its banking parent with its April deal for Palmer & Cay, a Savannah, Ga., agency that was the nation's 15th-largest. Palmer & Cay's operation includes offices in California, and Mr. McDowell said at the time that he had an eye out for West Coast deals.
