ROSELAND, N.J.—BB&T Corp.'s planned acquisition of the life and property/casualty operating divisions of Roseland, N.J.-based Crump Group Inc. for $570 million is a solid strategic move that will strengthen BB&T's wholesale operations significantly, analysts say.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based financial services firm said it expects the deal to add about $300 million in annual revenue to its Raleigh, N.C.-based BB&T Insurance Services Inc. unit. The acquisition, which requires regulatory approval, is expected to close during the first quarter, BB&T said last week in a statement.

The $570 million purchase does not include Ascensus Inc., Crump's retirement services business. Crump was No. 4 in Business Insurance's 2011 ranking of the top property/casualty insurance wholesalers. BB&T was No. 7 in Business Insurance's 2011 ranking of the world's largest brokers.

“We've known and respected Crump for years and consider them an industry leader,” H. Wade Reece, BB&T Insurance chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “This is an opportunity for BB&T to become a significant and strategic player in the high-growth, high-margin life insurance distribution business and expand our property and casualty business.”

John Howard, president and CEO of Crump, will join BB&T Insurance in a senior leadership position and report to Mr. Reece, BB&T said. BB&T's wholesale insurance operations include property/casualty broker CRC Insurance Services, managing general agent Southern Cross TAPCO Underwriters and managing general underwriter AmRisc L.L.P.

According to information distributed to investors when the deal was announced last Friday, BB&T's 2011 commercial insurance business would decrease to 30% of its total business, from 38%, had it been combined with Crump's pro forma revenues. Its 2011 wholesale broker business would increase to 14% from 12%, and total insurance revenue would increase to $1.33 billion on a pro forma basis from $1.04 billion.

Commenting on the deal, analyst Meyer Shields, director at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. in Baltimore, said, “There's a lot of pressure” on the wholesale business because “the bigger brokers are expanding, and they're not making much business available.” By consolidating the remaining wholesale brokers, “they have more leverage in the future wholesale market.”

Jim Campbell, a principal with Atlanta-based Reagan Consulting Inc., said the deal “makes a lot of strategic sense.” Among the reasons, said Mr. Campbell, is it “broadens or expands (BB&T's) wholesaling capabilities.”

The acquisition will “add to their (property/casualty) wholesaling capabilities, but of course also give them a pretty good wholesaling capability on the life side,” which makes the acquisition a “meaningful diversification for them,” Mr. Campbell said.

Erik Oja, equity banking analyst at Standard & Poor's Corp. in New York, said the deal is “in line with BB&T's long-stated aim of building up its insurance revenues.”

“They're focusing on insurance as a growth driver,” he said.

S&P said Friday it is maintaining a hold recommendation on BB&T Corp. shares.