First Financial Finishes Sale of Insurance Unit

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., said Monday that it has completed its sale of its managing general insurance agency subsidiary to Burns & Wilcox Ltd. of Farmington Hills, Mich.

Under the deal that closed Friday, Burns & Wilcox acquired substantially all of the assets of First Financial's Kimbrell Insurance Group Inc. in exchange for cash. Additionally, there was a provision for a potential earn-out payable over two years based on specific annual revenue growth goals. Other financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sandler O'Neill & Partners L.P. acted as a financial advisor and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP was a legal advisor to the $3.2 billion-asset First Financial. Burns & Wilcox is a Kaufman Financial Group company.

"The sale of Kimbrell is an additional step forward in our strategic transformation, allowing us to concentrate our resources on building and enhancing our core banking franchise," R. Wayne Hall, First Financial's president and chief executive, said in a press release.

This article was reprinted with the permission of American Banker.

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