November 12th, 2014 by WCBC Radio

BB&T Corporation this morning announced it was purchasing Susquehanna Bancshares, Incorporated, for nearly $2.5 billion in cash and stock.

The move will grow the North Carolina based bank's footprint in the mid-Atlantic.

Stock prices for shares of Susquehanna skyrocketed Wednesday morning, while BB&T shares were off slightly in early trading.