Sterling Capital Management to partner with BB&T

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BB&T Corporation today said it would acquire a 70 percent ownership interest in Sterling Capital Management LLC of Charlotte, N.C.

Privately-held Sterling Capital Management, with more than $8 billion in assets under management, provides investment management services to institutional clients and high net worth individuals.

Sterling will continue to be led by its team of five managing directors, which has worked together for nearly a decade. The firm will keep its name and all employees and operate as an independently managed subsidiary of BB&T Corporation.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the second quarter. Terms were not disclosed.

"We are certainly delighted to be partnering with such a well respected and high-performing asset management firm that shares our corporate values and ethics," said Corporate Financial Services Manager Ken Miller, who oversees BB&T's fee-based business lines.

"Sterling Capital Management will complement our existing asset management capabilities provided through BB&T Asset Management, a registered investment advisory firm that will continue to be led by Keith Karlawish as president. The addition of Sterling Capital Management makes us even stronger by bringing a sharper institutional focus to our organization, and is consistent with our commitment to add scale to our asset management business."

Founded in 1970, Sterling Capital Management is a registered investment advisor with 42 employees. In addition to its Charlotte headquarters, it operates three regional offices in Georgia and California.

Sterling manages more than $2.7 billion in small- to mid-cap value equity portfolios and more than $5.3 billion in both taxable securities and tax-exempt municipal bond portfolios.

The firm has 110 corporate, public, endowment and foundation, health care, and Taft-Hartley clients in the United States and abroad and more than 100 individual high net worth clients. It also manages two mutual funds -- the Sterling Capital Small Cap Value Fund and the Sterling Capital Balanced Fund.

"Our firm is much like BB&T in that we both firmly believe in providing superior investment performance and very personalized, highly attentive service," said Mark Whalen, managing director of Sterling Capital Management. "That's a major reason why we're enthusiastic about teaming with BB&T. There will be no change to our investment philosophy, process or people."

BB&T Corp. is parent company to Raleigh, N.C.-based BB&T Asset Management. "We look forward to working alongside Sterling Capital as asset management affiliates serving both institutional and high net worth clients," said Keith Karlawish, president of BB&T Asset Management. "Our respective disciplined investment processes both emphasize quality securities within diversified portfolios."

With more than $16 billion in assets under management, BB&T Asset Management's broad range of investment strategies include: value, growth and international equity; taxable and tax-exempt fixed income; and asset- allocation portfolios. The firm has 25 regional offices in nine states across the BB&T footprint. More information is available at http://www.bbandt.com/assetmanagement .

BB&T Corporation and its subsidiaries offer full-service commercial and retail banking and additional financial services such as insurance, investments, retail brokerage, corporate finance, treasury services, international banking, leasing and trust.

BB&T operates more than 1,400 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Washington, D.C.

With $100.5 billion in assets, BB&T Corporation is the nation's ninth largest financial holding company. More information is available at http://www.bbandt.com/ .