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SunTrust is the largest subsidiary of SunTrust Banks, Incorporated.  In June of 2008, this bank had nearly two billion dollars in assets.  The SunTrust Bank headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, where they have been since 1891, as SunTrust’s parent company began here.  You can find SunTrust Bank locations in the southern states.  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia are all home to SunTrust Bank locations.  In the following article, we will review more information and history about the SunTrust Bank.

In 1811, the Farmer’s Bank of Alexandria, Virginia was founded, and this was the earliest predecessor to the SunTrust Bank.  The Farmer’s Bank is the direct corporate relative of the Trust Company of Georgia, which was founded in 1891.  When this business was founded, it was called the Commercial Traveler’s Savings Banks.  This bank was only known under this name for a total of two years, at which time it was renamed the Trust Company of Georgia.  The SunTrust Bank Incorporated of our modern times was a result of a merger.  In 1985, the Trust Company of Georgia and SunBanks, Incorporated if Florida became one to make what is now known as SunTrust Banks, Incorporated.  The branches of this bank, however, did not switch over to the name of the parent company until 1995.

After the merger in 1985, SunTrust Banks, Incorporated started to purchase other corporations and institutions.  In 1986, SunTrust bought Third National Corporation of Tennessee.  In 1998, SunTrust bought Crestar Financial of Virgina and in 2001 SunTrust attempted to purchase and takeover Wachovia, but they were unsuccessful.  Instead, Wachovia merged with another bank, First Union.  In 2004, SunTrust bought the National Commerce Financial Corporation, which was based out of Memphis.  They made this purchase for about seven billion dollars.  Once this purchase was made, it gave SunTrust branches assets in both North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia.  SunTrust has more recently acquired GB&T Bancshares for just under one hundred fifty-four million dollars.  GB&T will now mainly be integrated into the SunTrust Atlanta, Georgia banking region.   SunTrust has been working hard to strengthen its assets since its creation in 1985.  As of now, there are rumors going around that SunTrust may be taken over by a larger bank in the near future.  There is no date that is set in stone when it will be known whether or not SunTrust will be taken over.

SunTrust has also had a long relationship with the Coca-Cola Company.  The relationship goes as far back as the year 1919, when the Trust Company of Georgia was the underwriter of the initial public offering.  The original copy of the Coca-Cola recipe is stored in a SunTrust safety deposit box in Atlanta.  SunTrust still has nearly fifty million shares of Coca-Cola.  This is worth about two billion dollars to the company.  There are also two Coca-Cola executives that sit on the director’s board for SunTrust.

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