Up until recently, Cambridge Trust only had a small presence in New Hampshire through its wealth management business.

Now, the bank is expanding in a big way, not only adding a significant retail presence, but a whole new platform to offer its premier banking services, too.

The parent company of Cambridge Trust announced yesterday that it plans to acquire Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Optima Bank & Trust Co., the seventh largest state-chartered bank in the Granite State. The deal is a part-stock, part-cash transaction valued at about $67 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Optima common stock will be exchanged for either 0.3468 shares of Cambridge common stock, or $32 in cash based on Cambridge Bancorp’s closing price of $85.61 on Dec. 4. The breakdown, according to an investor presentation, is 95 percent stock and 5 percent cash.

The deal is valued at 191 percent tangible book value, a very respectable price in the current market – Belmont Savings Bank, which was acquired a little more than a week ago by People’s United Bank, was purchased for only 160 percent tangible book value.

The deal also adds considerable franchise value to Cambridge Trust, which did not previously have a retail presence in New Hampshire.

“Our merger with Optima Bank is a natural fit and consistent with our growth strategy to become the premier private bank and wealth management company throughout Greater Boston and Southern New Hampshire,” Denis Sheahan, CEO of Cambridge Trust, said in a statement. “By joining forces, we’ll be able to provide our wealth management clients in New Hampshire with access to a full suite of private banking services and convenient office locations, while clients of Optima Bank will benefit from Cambridge Trust’s comprehensive investment management, wealth planning and trust services.”

The deal gives the nearly $2 billion Cambridge Trust and its 14 branches another roughly $524 million in assets and six more branches, two in Portsmouth, one in Dover, one in Stratham, one in North Hampton and one in Bedford. Cambridge Trust’s New Hampshire wealth management offices are located in Concord, Manchester and Portsmouth.

For over a year, Cambridge Trust has been placing a greater emphasis on and expanding its private banking and wealth management team.

It started in September 2017 with the addition of Mark Thompson, who had earlier in 2017 led a team planning to acquire a majority of assets from Admirals Bank and launch a new bank, although those plans would ultimately fizzle.

Cambridge Trust’s efforts began to pay off early in 2018 when the bank in the fourth quarter of 2017 reported growing its private banking and wealth almost 15 percent from the year prior, bringing total assets under management to $3.1 billion at the time.

The bank then continued bulking up its private banking division by hiring John Sullivan and Kerri Mooney. Sullivan had also been in the group with Thompson that was interested in purchasing the assets from Admirals Bank.

In the third quarter of this year, Cambridge Trust reported growing its private banking and wealth management to $3.2 billion in assets under management, up more than 8 percent year-over-year.

Any potential branch consolidations and layoffs that might result from the deal are currently unclear, but Cambridge Trust in its investor presentation did say it expects pre-tax savings of about $4.4 million, or equivalent to 35 percent of Optima’s general and administrative expenses.

Upon the closing of the deal, Daniel Morrison, chairman, president and CEO of Optima, will join Cambridge Trust’s board of directors.

“Through the combined organization, we will be well-positioned to offer differentiated, high-touch private banking and wealth management services to clients and prospects in Southern New Hampshire,” Morrison said in a statement. “Cambridge Trust has been in our market since 1996 and has amassed over $1 billion in New Hampshire-based wealth management assets. I look forward to working with the Cambridge Trust team to accelerate our combined growth in New Hampshire.”

The deal is projected to close in the second quarter of 2019.