Provident Bancorp Inc. completed its conversion to a stock company last week, raising more than $100 million in the process to help it grow specialized commercial lending and other initiatives.
Two community banks have gone fully public so far this year but going forward, mutual conversions in New England are likely to remain modest, according to experts, who say consolidation is the main culprit behind the new trend.
The parent company of Amesbury-based Provident Bank is planning to raise up to about $252 million in a new stock offering that will make the company fully public.
Amesbury-based Provident Bank is going fully public with a second-step conversion, the second by a Massachusetts bank this year following HarborOne in March.
The parent company of Brockton-based HarborOne Bank will become a fully stock-owned company.
