Retired BB&T CEO John A. Allison shares tips on brokering a deal and making an acquisition thrive in his latest book. This is part 2 of 5.

BB&T has agreed to buy Susquehanna Bancshares for about $2.5 billion in cash and shares to expand in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The new owners of First Mariner Bank believe the Baltimore bank could return to profitability in the first quarter.

BB&T completed more than 100 acquisitions under now-retired Chief Executive John A. Allison. In an excerpt from his latest book, Allison discusses his reasoning for M&A, while providing a blueprint for scouting targets. This is part 1 of 5.

Banc of California has completed its acquisition of the Southern California branch network of Popular Community Bank.

First Niagara Financial Group raised to $1.1 billion the amount of the goodwill impairment charge it recorded in the third quarter, as the Buffalo, N.Y., company cuts the value of assets acquired since 2009.

Harvard Illinois Bancorp in Harvard, Ill., which recently disclosed that it had been exposed to a fraud scheme involving certain investments, has hired an investment bank to help it "evaluate strategic alternatives."

Central Bancshares in Muscatine, Iowa, has agreed to buy Buffalo Prairie State Bank in Buffalo Prairie, Ill.

Bay Commercial Bank in Walnut Creek, Calif., has stepped in to outbid a rival to buy Valley Community Bank in Pleasanton, Calif.

Ambitious Renasant Corp. in Mississippi is still billions of dollars away from a key regulatory threshold of $10 billion in assets, but it's getting ready now for the demands that come with growing that large. Two of its top executives explain why.

A large activist investor has given an early vote of confidence to Malvern Bancorp's new chief executive, while backing off of demands that the Paoli, Pa., company sell itself.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Frontier Bank FSB in Palm Desert, Calif.

Banks on opposite coasts — Sterling Bancorp in New York and Banner in Washington — are joining the list of institutions teetering on the $10 billion-asset threshold where a slew of new regulation kicks in. The banks' CEOs said they were finally able to peg the expected costs of reaching that size.

Hanmi Financial in Los Angeles reported higher quarterly earnings as organic loan growth and an acquisition offset significant margin pressure.

Fidelity Southern in Atlanta has agreed to buy deposits and loans from Florida Capital Bank.

MasterCard has agreed to buy the merchant payments unit of Transaction Network Services in Reston, Va.,a deal that would expand the e-commerce services offered by DataCash, MasterCard's payment processing subsidiary.

It has been three months since Bankwell Financial's CEO left abruptly. Some observers say it might make sense for Bankwell — and others in a similar spot — to consider selling while no change-of-control payout is involved.

Beneficial Bancorp in Philadelphia could raise as much as $633 million through its second-step conversion.

Glacier Bancorp in Kalispell, Mont., has agreed to buy Montana Community Banks Inc. in Ronan, Mont.

Late Wednesday, Banner Corp. in Walla Walla, Wash., announced it would acquire AmericanWest Bank in a $702 million stock-and-cash deal.