SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


                             Washington, D. C. 20549




                                    FORM 8-K




                                 CURRENT REPORT



                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934



Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):        March 29, 1996
                                                     


                     UNITED CAROLINA BANCSHARES CORPORATION
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



      NORTH CAROLINA                    05583                   56-0954530
(State or other jurisdiction         (Commission              (IRS Employer
of incorporation)                    File Number)          Identification No.)



127 West Webster Street, Whiteville, North Carolina              28472
  (Address of principal executive offices)                     (Zip Code)



Registrant's telephone number, including area code (910) 642-5131

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                    INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT


Item 5.  Other Events

On March 29, 1996,  registrant and its wholly owned subsidiary,  United Carolina
Bank ("UCB"),  and Triad Bank  ("Triad"),  headquartered  in  Greensboro,  N.C.,
completed  the merger of Triad into UCB pursuant to the parties'  agreement  and
plan of  reorganization  and merger  executed  on October 19,  1995.  Registrant
issued 1,595,125 shares of its common stock, and paid $16,538 in cash in lieu of
issuing fractional shares of its common stock, in exchange for Triad's 1,868,278
shares of common stock  outstanding on March 29, 1996.  Registrant  also assumed
the  obligation  to issue an  additional  127,164  shares of its common stock in
connection  with 148,873  vested  option shares of Triad common stock which were
outstanding as of March 29, 1996, under Triad option plans assumed by UCB in the
merger transaction.  On March 29, 1996, Triad, which operated eleven branch full
service banking offices in Greensboro (8),  Winston-Salem (2), and Asheboro (1),
and two  limited  service  branches  in Heritage  Greens and  Abbotswood,  N.C.,
reported  $207.4 million in total assets and $188.1  million in total  deposits.
Including the Triad offices, registrant operates 152 branch offices in North and
South Carolina and has total consolidated assets of approximately $4.2 billion.


                                   SIGNATURES


Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date:  April 15, 1996

                                     UNITED CAROLINA BANCSHARES CORPORATION



                                by s/Howard V. Hudson, Jr.
                                     Howard V. Hudson, Jr.
                                     General Counsel and Secretary

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