BB&T is expanding into Amish country and other Northeast enclaves with its $2.5 billion acquisition of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc., based in Lititz, Pa., a town founded by Moravians in 1756. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, will move BB&T into Pennsylvania and New Jersey for the first time and expand its presence in Baltimore and the Mid-Atlantic. Susquehanna has nearly $18.6 billion of assets and 245 branches, compared with BB&T’s $187 billion and 1,842. BB&T — now based in Winston-Salem, which Moravians from Pennsylvania founded in 1753 — announced deals last year to purchase Crestview Hills, Ky.-based The Bank of Kentucky for $363 million and 41 Citibank branches in Texas. Pennsylvania is growing slower than BB&T’s Sun Belt markets, but it would be the third-most populous state in the bank’s footprint, after Texas and Florida. Because Susquehanna has struggled in recent years, BB&T has the potential to capture more value than if it bought a thriving company. Selling more insurance products and expanding commercial lending at the acquired bank should also make the deal pay off, JPMorgan Securities analyst Vivek Juneja says
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