M&A

5 November, 2009

BB&T to integrate Colonial by May, CEO says

* CEO says Colonial deal on-track

* Expects integration to finish by May 2010

* Will continue to look for buyout candidates

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov 5 (Reuters) - BB&T Corp (BBT.N) Chief Executive Kelly King said the bank's integration of failed Alabama-based Colonial Bank is scheduled to be completed by May 2010.

King, speaking at the BancAnalysts Association of Boston conference on Thursday, said he expects the former Montgomery, Alabama-based bank's operations to assimilate into BB&T's without too many problems.

"We haven't lost our touch in doing these things," said King. BB&T has bought 60 banks since 2000, according Federal Deposit Insurance Corp data.

BB&T bought Colonial, with Federal Deposit Insurance Corp help, on Aug. 14 in the biggest bank failure so far this year.

It added $22 billion in assets and $20 billion in deposits to the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based lender's balance sheet, which now totals $165 billion.

The deal included a loss-sharing agreement between the regulator and BB&T covering $15 billion of Colonial's assets.

King said the bank is not done looking for potential acquisition targets, either through FDIC-assisted deals or organic combinations. But he stressed the bank's days of serial deal-making, in the current economy, were behind it.

"We're not going back to the days of doing 4,5,6,7,8 mergers a year," King said. "And we're going to pursue them only when they make strategic sense."

BB&T shares were down 0.5 percent to $23.90 in morning trading. (Reporting by Joe Rauch; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://www.reuters.com