PNC Bank plans to buy Spanish bank BBVA’s U.S. operations in an all-cash deal valued at $11.6B. The deal will create the fifth-largest U.S. bank by assets.

Why should we care?
The transaction is the second-largest U.S. banking acquisition since the 2008 financial crisis. In a statement, PNC said the merger “significantly accelerates” its national expansion strategy, leaving it with a presence in 29 of the 30 largest U.S. markets. The deal also left some consumers speculating about what would happen to Simple, the digital banking fintech that BBVA acquired through its U.S. business for $117M in 2014, and currently operates as a stand-alone consumer brand. The acquisition takes place six months after PNC sold its stake in BlackRock for $17B. “We’ve managed to effectively trade the BlackRock ownership stake we had for a franchise that takes us coast to coast,” PNC CEO William Demchak told The Financial Times. The deal was pulled along by good prospects for a COVID-19 vaccine, along with U.S. election stability, he added.