Stockholders Vote to Approve Sale of Insurance Agency Business BISMARCK, N.D., May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BNCCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:BNCC) announced that its stockholders, voting at a Special Meeting held today, approved selling substantially all of the assets of its insurance agency operation, BNC Insurance Services, Inc., to a subsidiary of Hub International Limited (NYSE: HBG; TSX: HBG). BNC expects the transaction to close in the next few weeks, subject to the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. BNCCORP announced a definitive agreement on March 14, 2007, to sell the insurance agency assets for approximately $37 million in cash. Gregory K. Cleveland, BNCCORP President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Today's stockholder vote is a significant step toward completing the sale of our insurance agency unit. We look forward to concluding this strategic transaction. It demonstrates our commitment to building value for our stockholders and will provide the Company with additional financial resources that can be invested in the growth of our remaining businesses." BNCCORP, Inc., headquartered in Bismarck, N.D., is a registered bank holding company dedicated to providing banking and wealth management services to businesses and consumers in its local markets. The Company operates 27 locations in Arizona, Minnesota, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nevada through BNC National Bank and its subsidiaries. Statements included in this news release which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbor provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We caution readers that these forward-looking statements, including without limitation, those relating to our future business prospects, revenues, working capital, liquidity, capital needs, interest costs and income, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements due to several important factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks of loans and investments, including dependence on local and regional economic conditions; competition for our customers from other providers of financial services; possible adverse effects of changes in interest rates including the effects of such changes on derivative contracts and associated accounting consequences; risks associated with our acquisition and growth strategies; and other risks which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. DATASOURCE: BNCCORP, Inc. CONTACT: Gregory k. Cleveland, +1-602-852-3526, or Tracy Scott, +1-701-250-3040, or Timothy J. Fran, +1-612-305-2213, all of BNCCORP, Inc. Web site: http://www.bnccorp.com/

Copyright