BB&T to Buy Susquehanna for $2.5 Billion in Cash, Stock

By Steve Dickson  

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- BB&T Corp., North Carolina’s second-largest bank, agreed to buy Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $2.5 billion to expand in the Mid-Atlantic region. Bloomberg’s Scarlet Fu reports on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (Source: Bloomberg)

BB&T Corp. (BBT), North Carolina’s second-largest bank, agreed to buy Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. (SUSQ) for about $2.5 billion in cash and shares to expand in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Susquehanna stockholders will receive 0.253 share of BB&T common stock and $4.05 in cash for each share, BB&T said today in a statement. Based on BB&T’s closing price of $38.33 yesterday, the offer is worth about $13.75 a share, 39 percent above Susquehanna’s $9.90 price yesterday. Calculated using BB&T’s average closing price over the 45 days ended on Nov. 10, the deal is worth $13.50 per share.
BB&T Chief Executive Officer Kelly King, 66, has
been scooping up branches from competitors and seeking bank acquisitions as he pushes into new regions. The firm said in September it planned to buy Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp. for $363 million, a week after agreeing to acquire 41 Texas branches from Citigroup Inc.
Susquehanna, based in Lititz, Pennsylvania, has $18.6 billion in assets and 245 offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia, according to the statement. William J. Reuter and Christine Sears, current Susquehanna Board members, will join Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based BB&T’s board when the transaction is completed.
“This acquisition will significantly expand BB&T’s footprint in the Mid-Atlantic region and improve its ranking to #5 in Maryland,” BB&T said in the statement.
(A previous version of this story spelled Bancshares incorrectly.)