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Posted February 07, 2019

BB&T and SunTrust Banks announced Thursday that they have agreed to merge in a $66 billion deal to form a new bank that will be headquartered in Charlotte.

The blockbuster deal will alter Charlotte’s banking landscape, which has lost bank headquarters in recent years through industry combinations. As a result of those deals, Bank of America is the only bank headquartered in the city of Charlotte.

The combination of Winston-Salem-based BB&T and Atlanta’s SunTrust will form the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets and deposits, the companies said. It is also the largest bank merger since the financial crisis of 2008, according to an Observer analysis of FDIC data.

It was not immediately clear what the deal will mean for Charlotte as far as jobs or where the headquarters will go.

Executives for both banks indicated Thursday that jobs could be shed as the new company closes overlapping branches and gets rid of duplicate positions. They did not cite any numbers, however.

A name for the new bank is expected to be determined before the deal closes in the fourth quarter of this year. Approvals are still needed from regulators and shareholders of each bank.

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