BB&T Buys Collateral RE, Forms Grandbridge RE

BB&T Corp., Winston-Salem, N.C., has completed its acquisition of Collateral Real Estate Capital, Birmingham, Ala., combined it with its commercial mortgage banking arm, Laureate Capital LLC, and renamed the combined company Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC.The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Thomas Dennard, president and chief executive officer of Laureate Capital, has been named CEO of the combined company. "We can now provide both third-party and on-book bridge financing through our subsidiary, Grandbridge Funding LLC, to facilitate and position long-term financing opportunities," Mr. Dennard said. BB&T can be found on the Web at http://www.bbt.com.