A bank holding company in Western Massachusetts has snatched up a small South Shore bank, its first move into the eastern part of the state.

Hometown Financial Group announced yesterday that it will purchase the parent company of Cohasset-based Pilgrim Bank for $23 per share in cash in a deal valued at nearly $54 million.

As of yesterday, shares of Pilgrim Bancshares were trading at $20.60. The transaction values Pilgrim Bank at 151 percent tangible book value.

Hometown Financial is a holding company that allows its subsidiaries to operate independently in their respective markets. The company owns Easthampton-based bankESB and Oxford-based bankHometown. With the acquisition of the $263 million asset Pilgrim Bank and its three branches, Hometown Financial will collectively have $2.4 billion in assets and 26 branches.

“We see the Pilgrim Bank franchise as a great first step into Eastern Massachusetts,” Matthew S. Sosik, president and CEO of Hometown Financial Group, said in a statement. “With our established presence in Central and Western Massachusetts through our bankHometown and bankESB franchises, Hometown Financial Group is actively looking to expand into new markets, which offer attractive growth opportunities. The Pilgrim Bank franchise fits nicely into our growth plans. We look forward to welcoming Pilgrim Bank into our family of banks.”

Pilgrim Bank went public in 2014 along with Melrose Bank, East Boston Savings Bank and Blue Hills Bank. Banks that make the move from a depositor-owned institution to a publicly traded bank must wait three years before they are allowed to be acquired, but the large majority of banks that do make this transition are eventually purchased.

As Banker & Tradesman previously reported, Pilgrim Bank was a likely candidate for an acquisition, primarily because of the bank’s performance and the age of its executive officers. Pilgrim Bank’s CEO Francis Campbell is 62 and has been president and CEO of the bank since 2002, while all other members of the bank’s board of directors were between the age of 62 and 72, according to Bloomberg.

As part of the merger, Campbell will retire. He signed a settlement, consulting and non-competition agreement with Hometown Financial Group that will pay out him lump sum cash payments close to $888,000, according to regulatory filings. For six months following the merger, Campbell will also be available for consulting services at $150 per hour.

Pilgrim Bank’s performance as of late has not been anything to write home about. Between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, the bank only grew $4.5 million in total assets. At the end of the first quarter of this year, its return on assets was 0.7 percent and its return on equity was 7.38 percent, according to the FDIC.