Sterne Agee Welcomes Florida Mortgage Lender into Fold

One of the nation's oldest privately-owned financial services companies announced its acquisition of Florida-based residential mortgage lender ""FBC Mortgage, LLC"":http://www.fbchomeloans.com/Default.aspx.

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""Sterne Agee Group, Inc."":http://www.sterneagee.com/, founded in Alabama in 1901, signed a definitive agreement to acquire FBC, a retail and wholesale loan originator. Combined, the entities will have 1,500 full-time employees in 65 offices across the country.

""The acquisition is the continuation of Sterne Agee's strategic plan to expand the products and services that Sterne Agee offers as a full-service financial company,"" said James S. Holbrook Jr., chairman and CEO of Sterne Agee. ""Sterne Agee is very pleased to welcome FBC into its family of companies.""

""This acquisition was a perfect fit for FBC. It gives us the platform to expand more rapidly into new markets and keep our team together,"" said Sal A. Nunziata, FBC's chairman and co-CEO. ""We are very excited to be able to offer our services to Sterne Agee's over 500 community bank clients.""