BB&T Corp. has agreed to acquire SunTrust Banks Inc. in a transaction valued at $66 billion.
BB&T, which purchased Allentown-based National Penn Bancshares in 2015, will pay 1.295 shares of its stock per share of SunTrust stock.
BB&T shareholders will control 57 percent of the shares after the transaction, while SunTrust holders will control 43 percent, according to a joint statement from the two banks on PRNewswire.
The statement contends the transaction is a “merger of equals” although BB&T is the acquirer. The combined company will operate under a new name that was not disclosed in today’s statement.
The combined bank will be the sixth-largest in the U.S. based on assets and deposits, according to the statement. The transaction’s projected completion date is in the fourth quarter of 2019.
BB&T will maintain its corporate headquarters in North Carolina.
SunTrust is based in Atlanta.
