5 things to know about BB&T's huge acquisition

BB&T Corp.'s $2.5 billion acquisition of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. will increase its presence in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.

And the cash-and-stock deal, announced Wednesday, might spark more M&A activity throughout the banking industry.

Banks have been wary of major deals for the past couple of years, perceiving that regulators did not like the idea of greater consolidation in the industry, The Wall Street Journal reports.

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) has already entered some smaller deals this year. The Winston-Salem-based corporation announced in September that it would buy Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp. for $363 million in cash and stock. It also said it would expand in Texas with the purchase of 41 Citibank retail branches.

But the acquisition of Susquehanna (NASDAQ:SUSQ) is on a different level altogether. Here are five things to know about the deal:

• It will be "one of the biggest in the banking sector since the financial crisis," the WSJ reports. The possibility of regulatory hassles has kept many companies away from such transactions.

• It will involve $250 million in integration expenses, according to the Journal. But the payoff should be quick: BB&T expects the deal to boost its per-share earnings in the first year.

• It will bring job cuts and facility closures as BB&T seeks to reduce Susquehanna's expenses by 32 percent, or $160 million a year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. To partially make up for the losses, BB&T will set up a $10 million foundation in Lancaster, Pa., a few miles from Susquehanna's headquarters.

• It comes with naming rights for the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J., according to the Inquirer. That's an indoor/outdoor complex used for concerts, theater productions and other events, and according to the Inquirer, it "will likely be renamed."

• It could lead to more deals. Analysts with Sterne Agee wrote Wednesday that "this is only the third bank deal where the seller had over $10B in assets in the last three years and could open the door for larger bank acquisitions nationally," Barron's reports.

James Ritchie manages Web content, social media and awards-based special sections. Contact him at 336-370-2912.