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Hometown Financial Group continues to shop aggressively.
The Western Massachusetts holding company announced today that it will merge with and absorb Millbury Savings Bank into its subsidiary, Oxford-based bankHometown. The merger is the second Hometown Financial Group has announced this month, not to mention the company’s completion of its acquisition of Cohasset-based Pilgrim Bank.
Millbury Savings Bank has roughly $228 million in assets and two branches in Millbury and Worcester. With the merger with bankHometown, the new entity will have $1 billion in assets and 15 branch offices located throughout central Massachusetts and northeastern Connecticut.
“We are excited to welcome Millbury Savings Bank’s customers, employees and communities to the bankHometown family,” Matthew S. Sosik, president and CEO of bankHometown and Hometown Financial Group, said in a statement. “This merger will expand our presence into the Worcester and Millbury markets and will add a team of talented bankers to bankHometown.”
The merger will not result in any staff reductions or branch closings, and the impact to customers is expected to be minimal as both banks share the same core processor.
After the deal closes, Robert J. Morton, president and CEO of Millbury Savings Bank, will lead the combined bank as its president and CEO.
In addition, Morton and five members of the Millbury Savings Bank board of trustees will join the bankHometown board of directors. Morton and one other Millbury Savings Bank board member will join the Hometown Financial Group board of directors.
“Merging with bankHometown allows us to provide our customers with increased lending capacity, an extended branch and ATM network, and an expanded offering of products and services,” Morton said in a statement. “At the same time, and even more importantly, our customers will see the same familiar faces every day.”
Hometown Financial Group is made up of three subsidiaries including Easthampton-based bankESB, Oxford-based bankHometown and Pilgrim Bank. The subsidiaries operate independently, but all share resources such as human resources, marketing, facilities management, asset/liability management, investment management, compliance and information technology under the holding company model.
Hometown has been active in the M&A space this year.
A week after completing its nearly $54 million acquisition of Cohasset-based Pilgrim Bank, the mutual holding company earlier this month announced another merger with Abington Bank, which it plans to merge into Pilgrim Bank.
Following the merger with Millbury Savings Bank, Hometown Financial Group will have approximately $3 billion in consolidated assets and 32 branch offices operating across Massachusetts and northeastern Connecticut.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019. Luse Gorman PC served as legal counsel to bankHometown and Bowditch & Dewey PC served as legal counsel to Millbury Savings Bank.
