BB&T subsidiary CRC Insurance Services to acquire Southern Risk Operations LLC

CRC Insurance Services Inc., the wholesale insurance subsidiary of BB&T Corporation principal subsidiary Branch Banking and Trust Company, today completed a purchase of Southern Risk Operations LLC.

Sumter, S.C.-based Southern Risk is an excess and surplus (E&S) insurance broker that specializes in finding coverage for a broad range of risks, including high-risk personal and commercial properties along the East Coast.

The 18-year-old company also operates branch offices in Miami, Marlton, N.J., Concord, N.H., and Timonium, Md., through its Horan Goldman subsidiary. Horan Goldman was founded in 1963.

Birmingham-based CRC, with approximately $3 billion in premiums in 2007, is the largest wholesale property and casualty insurance broker in the nation. Southern Risk will operate as a division of CRC managing general agency Southern Cross Underwriters. Terms were not disclosed.

“In our continuing quest to become a complete excess and surplus lines broker, the addition of Southern Risk to the CRC team is an important move that will certainly boost our presence in the managing general agent segment of the industry,” said Tom Curtin, chief executive officer of CRC.

“They bring a wealth of experience and provide a great complement to the wholesale and managing general underwriter segments that already exist at CRC.”

Southern Risk Operations was founded in 1990 by Jim Mayes, the company’s president. It has 78 employees.

“CRC and Southern Risk have been good friends but noble competitors for many years,” Mayes said. “Our outstanding professionals, attractive markets and strong niche as an E&S lines broker – combined with CRC’s position as the largest wholesale property and casualty broker in the nation – will create an unbeatable team. This is a positive merger for our employees, our agents and their valued clients.”

Southern Risk’s specialty lines include commercial transportation, property and liability, marine, and professional coverage for directors and officers.

CRC acquired Jackson, Miss.-based Southern Cross Underwriters in 2003. Founded in 1976, the CRC division specializes in small- and middle-market accounts, including property and casualty coverage for coastal homeowners and marine exposures.