SunTrust, BB&T announce $66 billion merger

Two Southeastern banks with large operations in Jacksonville, SunTrust Banks Inc. and BB&T Corp., announced a $66 billion merger Thursday morning.

The companies described the deal as a merger of equals and said they will come up with a new name for the merged bank, which will be headquartered in Charlotte.

SunTrust is headquartered in Atlanta and BB&T is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

SunTrust has 24 branches in the Jacksonville metropolitan area, the fourth-largest branch network in the market, and BB&T is the eighth-largest with 14 offices, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.

Both companies have a major presence in Downtown Jacksonville. SunTrust is working on plans to move its main Jacksonville office from a 23-story building that bears its name at 76 S. Laura St. to the nearby Bank of America Tower at 50 N. Laura St.

BB&T’s main local office is in the BB&T Tower at 200 W. Forsyth St.

The combined bank will be the sixth-largest U.S. bank with $442 billion in assets, the companies said.

“It’s an extraordinarily attractive financial proposition that provides the scale needed to compete and win in the rapidly evolving world of financial services,” BB&T Chief Executive Kelly King said in a news release.

King will become chairman and CEO of the company when the merger is complete and SunTrust CEO William Rogers will become president and chief operating officer. The companies hope to complete the deal in the fourth quarter this year.

The merger agreement calls for an exchange of stock, with current BB&T shareholders ending up with 57 percent and SunTrust shareholders owning 43 percent.

The companies valued the exchange of stock at $66 billion.

By: Mark Basch
From: Jaxdailyrecord