
DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150325

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

FIRST UNION TO CLOSE 15 SIGNET BANK BRANCHES UP TO 1,400 JOBS WILL BE ELIMINATED

First Union Corp., which is scheduled to acquire acquire Signet Banking Corp. late this month, said Friday it will close 14 of Signet's branches in Hampton Roads.

The announcement came one day after shareholders of Richmond-based Signet approved a $3.3 billion merger offer from First Union.

The list of Signet branches being shut includes a half-dozen in Virginia Beach, two in Norfolk, two in Chesapeake, one in Portsmouth and three in Newport News. One First Union branch in the region, in Newport News, will be closed.

Like Signet, Charlotte-based First Union has a major presence in Hampton Roads and several other parts of Virginia.

Widespread cutbacks were expected from a First Union-Signet combination because of the two companies' overlapping branch systems. In addition, First Union said when announcing their merger agreement in July that it hoped to slash Signet's operating expenses by 50 percent.

The companies are scheduled to complete the transaction on Nov. 28.

In the process closing branches and consolidating other operations, between 1,300 and 1,400 Signet employees in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., will lose their jobs, a spokeswoman for First Union said. That would be more than a third of Signet's 4,000-person workforce.

The six Signet branches due to close in Virginia Beach:

1705 Baltic Avenue.

925 Diamond Springs Road.

996 First Colonial Road.

5241 Providence Road.

4460 Corporation Lane.

2422 Princess Anne Road.

The two branches in Norfolk being closed are at:

870 N. Military Highway at Military Circle.

6330 Newtown Road.

The two branches closing in Chesapeake are at:

3216 Western Branch Blvd.