After months of waiting, the deal that would end Susquehanna Bank’s run as one of Lititz’s hometown institutions cleared its final regulatory hurdles in July 2015.
North Carolina-based BB&T Corp. announced on July 7, 2015, that it had received approval from the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and all required state regulators to acquire Lititz-headquartered Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. The closing was set for Aug. 1, 2015, with the conversion of customer systems expected in the fourth quarter.
Word reaches Lititz
“I’m writing to be sure you saw BB&T’s recent news release that it has received regulatory approval for the acquisition of Susquehanna Bancshares,” Susquehanna Vice President Stephen Trapnell wrote to LititzDailyNews.com the evening after the announcement.
For Lititz, the news raised immediate questions. What would the merger mean for Susquehanna employees and local businesses? How would the company’s headquarters building in town be used? LititzDailyNews.com promised readers a series of stories on the transition in the weeks that followed.
A top-50 bank
Susquehanna was a top-50 bank in the United States, with more than 240 branch offices in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia. Based on March 31, 2015 balances, the merger involved $18.7 billion in assets and $13.8 billion in deposits.
BB&T had first announced its plan to buy Susquehanna on Nov. 12, 2014. The acquisition was one of the largest bank deals of its time in the mid-Atlantic and gave BB&T a major new presence in Pennsylvania.
BB&T’s view
“We are very pleased to receive this approval and excited to move forward with the merger,” said BB&T Chairman and CEO Kelly S. King. “Susquehanna is a strategically compelling deal expanding our franchise into a contiguous, attractive region that presents tremendous opportunities. The diversity of our markets is a key element of our long-term success.”
New regions
BB&T said it would create three new geographic banking regions: Western Maryland and Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania, and the Greater Delaware Valley. BB&T and Susquehanna would also combine their existing Maryland operations into a new Maryland Region.
The Central Pennsylvania Region would be led by Landisville resident Craig L. Kauffman, then CEO of Susquehanna Bank’s Central Pennsylvania Division. Kauffman had joined Susquehanna in 2013 and had more than 26 years of banking experience. He is a graduate of Millersville University and holds an MBA from Penn State.
What it meant for customers
For most customers, a bank merger happens in stages. The legal closing comes first, followed months later by a systems conversion, when accounts, online banking and branch signs switch to the new brand. BB&T said that conversion would take place in late 2015.
Customers were advised to watch for mailings explaining any changes to account numbers, checks, debit cards and online banking access.
A Lititz institution
Susquehanna’s roots in Lititz ran deep, and its headquarters made the borough an unlikely home for one of the larger regional banks on the East Coast. The company had grown through decades of acquisitions of community banks across Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
The sale meant that a major corporate headquarters would no longer be based in Lititz, a change that affected local jobs, charitable giving and the downtown economy. At the same time, BB&T said it intended to maintain a strong regional presence, with local leadership through the new Central Pennsylvania Region.
Later developments
BB&T later merged with SunTrust in 2019 to form Truist Financial, so the former Susquehanna branches in the region now operate under the Truist name.
This story was originally reported by Lynn Rebuck for LititzDailyNews.com in July 2015 and has been updated for our archive.