WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- BB&T Corp. on Tuesday said that it received final regulatory approval for its acquisition of BankAtlantic, a deal announced in November to expand BB&T's operations in South Florida.
The board of governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approved the transaction, along with the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks.
BB&T said it would complete the acquisition quickly, and the branches acquired in the deal will be rebranded as BB&T in the fourth quarter.
BB&T, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., announced plans Nov. 1 to acquire BankAtlantic, a wholly owned subsidiary of parent BankAtlantic Bankcorp Inc. The deal included the 78 remaining branches of BankAtlantic, along with its deposits and part of its loan portfolio. The transaction speeds BB&T's expansion in the Miami and Port St. Lucie markets.
BankAtlantic, a community bank based in Fort Lauderdale, opened in 1952. In June 2011, the bank's parent closed the sale of 19 branches in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area to PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
Under the deal with BB&T, the North Carolina-based bank agreed to pay a premium of about $301 million above net asset value for $2.1 billion in loans and roughly $3.3 billion in deposits.
In March, BB&T also agreed to take on $285 million of BankAtlantic Bancorp's debt related to preferred securities. That move came after the Delaware Court of Chancery said the deal could not go forward unless BB&T assumed more of BankAtlantic's debt. Other terms of the deal remained unchanged.
Shares of BB&T fell 24 cents to $31.47 in afternoon trading, while shares of BankAtlantic Bancorp added 19 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $6.15.
