Here's what BB&T's acquisition of Susquehanna means for Maryland — and the East Coast

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DAVID SANDERS | BLOOMBERG

BB&T Corp. announced Wednesday that it is acquiring Lititz, Pa.-based Susquehanna Bancshares Inc.

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Rick Seltzer

Staff reporter- Baltimore Business Journal

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BB&T Corp.'s $2.5 billion deal to buy Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. is in line to shift the balance of banking power in the Baltimore market, in Maryland and along the East Coast.

And that was the goal.

"Our desire is to be in the top five in the markets which we serve," BB&T President Ricky K. Brown said in an interview. "It was very nice from the perspective of a Maryland growth opportunity."

If approved by regulators, the deal announced earlier Wednesday between Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T (NYSE: BBT) and Lititz, Pa.-based Susquehanna (NASDAQ: SUSQ) would move BB&T closer to being the fourth-largest bank in the Baltimore market — it would trail Wells Fargo Bank for that position by less than 2 percentage points.

The deal would also rewrite the landscape by combining the Baltimore area's fifth- and seventh-largest banks. But it would have a greater effect on BB&T's standing throughout Maryland. The bank is set to jump from a statewide market share of 5.7 percent to 7.8 percent if it retains Susquehanna's deposits. That would move it from the seventh-largest bank in Maryland to the fifth-largest.

BB&T could close or consolidate some branches, but Brown said no decisions have been made regarding branches or staffing. He expects the number of shuttered branches to be relatively small.

The acquisition will expand BB&T's geographic reach. The bank doesn't extend up the Atlantic Coast beyond the Baltimore market. Susquehanna doesn't extend south beyond Maryland. Adding Susquehanna branches opens new markets in Philadelphia, other parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey for BB&T.

"It will give us a much better retail footprint," Brown said. "We didn't have the number of branches and scope in Maryland that we wanted."