
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993                   TAG: 9312210026
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FIRST UNION CREATES BIG-LOAN SYNDICATE

First Union Corp. said Monday it has established a loan syndication group to help the banking company's commercial lenders with complex lines of credit.

Syndicated transactions give banks the ability to limit the risk associated with large loans by selling portions of the loan to other lenders.

The syndication business is not new for First Union, but establishment of the unit strengthens its ability to participate in large transactions.

Alice Lehman, formerly vice president and senior credit officer, has been promoted to head the new group as senior vice president and managing director of loan syndications. The operation will be based at First Union's headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.

Lehman said First Union will deal with a large group of financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies and mutual funds.

Depending on the syndication being developed, she said, First Union will work with "anyone with an office in the United States." Customers will be involved in the decision about which lenders to use.

First Union has been syndicating on an ad hoc basis for years, she said, but both the bank and its number of customers have grown. She said there is a need to step up to large credits, and it was time to put together a group of specialists in one unit to price, structure and distribute loans.

Lehman will recruit a four-person team to work with First Union lenders.

Daniel W. Mathis, executive vice president and director of First Union's Corporate Banking Group, said "by syndicating large credits, we are able to provide larger amounts of capital in a prudent way."

by CNB