Fifth Third agreed to buy regional lender Comerica|Travis Estell|CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fifth Third Bank has announced plans to acquire Comerica in an all-stock deal valued at $10.9 billion.

The acquisition would create the nation’s ninth-largest bank with $288 billion in assets. According to Bloomberg, it is the biggest US bank deal this year.

The move has sparked fresh speculation about consolidation among regional lenders as it would allow smaller banks to compete with behemoths like JPMorgan Chase.