The commercial bank BB&T Corp. is buying Susquehanna Bancshares in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $2.5 billion. The acquisition extends the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based bank access to the Mid-Atlantic region. Susquehanna has 245 locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia.
The deal comes on the heels of a September announcement that BB&T would acquire 41 branches from Citigroup Inc., including branches in the Dallas, Houston and Midland areas. That purchase gave BB&T a total of 123 branches in Texas with $5.3 billion in deposits. “Similar to our recently announced market expansion acquisitions in the Dallas, Houston and Cincinnati markets, Susquehanna expands our franchise into a contiguous, attractive region that presents an exciting opportunity for us,” said BB&T Chairman and CEO Kelly King in a statement. Â