SouthTrust Corporation, which began as a regional financial institution in Alabama and grew its assets significantly through multi-state expansions across the Southeast, reached a definitive agreement to merge with Wachovia Corporation in a multi-billion-dollar stock transaction. Following the completion of the merger, SouthTrust's operations, branch networks, and systems were fully integrated into Wachovia, which later became part of Wells Fargo during subsequent banking consolidation waves, officially retiring the historic SouthTrust brand name from active commercial operations.