Tom Johnson
Tom Johnson

Abernathy MacGregor CEO Tom Johnson is advising Atlanta’s SunTrust Banks, which has agreed to a $28B acquisition by BB&T Corp. of Winston-Salem.

Completion of the “merger of equals” would create the country’s No. 6 biggest bank based on its $442B in assets and $324B in deposits..

The deal is the first mega-bank merger since the 2008 global meltdown and is viewed as a test of the Federal Reserve’s willingness to stomach such as transaction, according to the Financial Times.

Kelly King, BB&T chief, said the merger would “provide the scale needed to compete and win in the rapidly evolving world of financial services.”

Bill Rogers, CEO of SunTrust, will serve as president/COO of the renamed company until Sept. 12, 2021, at which time he will take the helm at the new headquarters in Charlotte.

Johnson is supporting SunTrust’s executive VP/CCO Sue Mallino and director of investor relations Ankur Vyas.

France’s Havas owns AbMac.