SunTrust shareholder sues to block $66B merger with BB&T

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A stockholder of SunTrust Banks Inc. is suing to try to block the company’s $66 billion mega-merger with BB&T Corp., alleging SunTrust hasn’t adequately disclosed information shareholders need “in order to make a fully informed decision whether to vote in favor of the proposed transaction.”

On Feb. 7, BB&T, based in Winston-Salem, and Atlanta’s SunTrust announced a “merger of equals” that will create the nation’s sixth-largest bank, which will be headquartered in Charlotte.

In a complaint filed April 10 in federal court in Atlanta, LR Trust charges that the deal violates the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is seeking to block a shareholder vote on the deal.

“SunTrust insiders are the primary beneficiaries of the Proposed Transaction, not the Company’s public stockholders,” LR Trust contends. “The Board and the Company’s executive officers are conflicted because they will have secured unique benefits for themselves from the Proposed Transaction not available to Plaintiff and the public stockholders of SunTrust.”

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Cox Media Group