BB&T Corp. announced Tuesday it has received regulatory approval to buy Pennsylvania-based lender Susquehanna Bancshares. Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corp. announced that federal and state regulators have OK’d the deal, which is expected to close Aug. 1. The roughly $2.5 billion cash-and-stock purchase was originally announced in November. BB&T said the deal will increase its footprint in the mid-Atlantic region, where Susquehanna operates more than 240 branch offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia through subsidiary Susquehanna Bank. BB&T said it will acquire $18.7 billion in assets and $13.8 billion in deposits through the deal. For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. “Susquehanna is a strategically compelling deal expanding our franchise into a contiguous, attractive region that presents tremendous opportunities,” BB&T Chairman and CEO Kelly King said in a statement Tuesday. Susquehanna Bancshares, a bank holding company, has 3,400 employees. The company’s other operations include wealth management, risk management consulting, insurance brokerage, commercial finance and vehicle leasing. Tuesday’s announcement comes a month after BB&T Corp. completed its purchase of The Bank of Kentucky. BB&T agreed in September to buy that lender for about $363 million in stock and cash. The deal marked BB&T’s first acquisition of another lender since it acquired Florida’s BankAtlantic in 2012. BB&T is the third-largest lender by deposits in the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind No. 1 Bank of America and No. 2 Wells Fargo.
BB&T has received regulatory approval to complete its purchase of Susquehanna Bancshares for c. $2.5bn, expanding its footprint in the mid-Atlantic region. This follows BB&T being granted permission to acquire the Bank of Kentucky last month. Reports suggest that the approval may also help other regional banks who are considering large acquisitions but have been held up by regulators in recent years.