BB&T seeks more northern exposure.

• Position: CHARTING THE COURSE

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...