Georgia Bank & Trust history

In 1995, BB&T and Winston-Salem-based Southern National Corporation, the state’s fifth largest bank-holding company, completed a “merger of equals,” resulting in 437 branches in 220 cities in the Carolinas and Virginia, all carrying the BB&T name.

In 1997, BB&T purchased Fidelity Federal Bankshares of Richmond, Va., and Virginia First Financial of Petersburg, Va.

In 1999, BB&T completed the acquisition of MainStreet Financial Corp. of Martinsville, Va.; First Citizens Corp. of Newnan, Ga.; Mason-Dixon Bancshares of Westminster, Md.; Matewan Bancshares of Williamson, W.Va.; and First Liberty of Macon, Ga.

2001: SunTrust acquires the Florida banking franchise of Huntington Bancshares.

In September 2002, BB&T completed its acquisition of Regional Financial Corporation (First South Bank) of Tallahassee, Fla.

In July 2003, BB&T completed the acquisition of First Virginia Banks Inc. of Falls Church, Va.

BB&T completed the acquisition of Republic Bancshares Inc. of St Petersburg, Fla., in April 2004.

2005: SunTrust Securities and Alexander Key combine to form SunTrust Investment Services, a full-service broker affiliate.

In 2006, BB&T completed the acquisitions of Main Street Banks Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., and First Citizens Bancorp of Cleveland, Tenn.

BB&T completed the acquisition of Coastal Financial Corporation of Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 2007.

In August 2009, BB&T acquired the banking operations of Colonial Bank of Montgomery, Ala., in an FDIC-assisted deal.

2013: SunTrust opens corporate banking offices in Dallas, San Francisco and Chicago.

2014: SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acquires Lantana Oil and Gas Partners, a leading acquisition and divestiture firm in the energy sector.

2016: SunTrust announces the acquisition of the assets of Pillar Financial LLC., a leading agency multi-family lender.

2019: SunTrust announces merger with Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T. The merger would create the sixth-largest bank in the United States, with new company headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.