BB&T bank said it has entered an agreement to purchase premium finance company AFCO Credit Corp. and its Canadian affiliate, CAFO Inc., from Pittsburgh-based financial services company Mellon Financial Corporation.

Terms of the deal were not released. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2007.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T said the deal would move the bank from the ninth to the second largest provider of additional credit and working capital.

A spokeswoman for BB&T said AFCO and CAFO have a total of $5 billion in loan originations, or the total amount financed. She added that this is not part of the banks insurance business, but tied to its specialized lending arm.

Premium finance is a loan that enables businesses and consumers to pay their premiums in installments.

BB&T already operates Prime Rate Premium Financial Corporation Inc. The target acquisitions would operate separately from Prime Rate Premium and continue to use their current brand names as units of BB&T's specialized lending division.

Daryl Zupan, president of AFCO and CAFO, and his existing senior management team will continue to oversee the organization's 16 offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

AFCO was founded in 1954 and acquired by Mellon in 1993 from The Continental Corporation. The company has clients that include large conglomerates, medium-sized corporations, municipalities, professional practices, sole practitioners, groups and associations.

AFCO's U.S. offices are in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. CAFO offices are in Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto.

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