NBT Bancorp (NBTB) Buys Salisbury Bancorp, Hikes Dividend
NBT Bancorp Inc. NBTB completed its previously announced deal to acquire Salisbury Bancorp, Inc on Aug 11. The deal, announced in December 2022, was valued at $204 million.
Under the terms of the agreement, the holders of Salisbury common stock received 0.7450 shares of NBT common stock, which equates to a value of $35 per Salisbury share.
Both companies announced the receipt of all the required regulatory approvals from The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Connecticut State Banking Department on Jul 11. Moreover, Salisbury received its shareholders' nod for the deal on Apr 12.
The deal resulted in the addition of 13 banking offices to NBTB in the complementary markets, including northwestern Connecticut, the Hudson Valley region of New York and southwestern Massachusetts. NBT Bank, the main banking subsidiary of NBTB, now has 153 banking offices across its seven-state footprints, post the systems conversion.
At the time of announcing the deal, NBTB expected the transaction to be nearly 9.8% accretive to its first-year GAAP earnings per share on a pro-forma basis and 4.9% per share accretive to cash earnings, excluding the impact of purchase accounting adjustments, including fair value marks to securities and loans and the establishment of a core deposit intangible asset.
John H. Watt, Jr., NBT president and CEO, commented, “With the integration of our two high-quality community banks, we are focused on continuing to support all stakeholders with a smooth transition and to the opportunity to grow our combined company together.”
Following the completion of the above-mentioned deal, NBT Bancorp announced a dividend hike. It declared a quarterly cash dividend of 32 cents per share, indicating a rise of 6.7% from the prior payout. This marks 11 consecutive years of dividend hikes by NBTB. The dividend will be paid out on Sep 15 to shareholders of record as of Sep 1.
Prior to this, NBTB raised its dividend by 7.1% to 30 cents per share in July 2022. We believe that such disbursements highlight the company’s operational strength and commitment toward enhancing shareholders' wealth.
Over the past three months, shares of NBT Bancorp have gained 2.6% compared with the industry’s upside of 14.7%.
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Currently, NBTB carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Inorganic Expansion Efforts by Other Banks
Glacier Bancorp, Inc. GBCI entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Community Financial Group, Inc. ("CFGW") to bolster its presence in the growing market of Eastern Washington. Community Financial Group is the bank holding company for a leading Eastern Washington community bank — Wheatland Bank — headquartered in Spokane.
Per the agreement terms, shareholders of CFGW will receive 1.0931 shares of Glacier stock for each CFGW share they hold upon closing of the transaction, which is expected to materialize in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approval, CFGW shareholder approval and customary closing conditions.
Banc of California, Inc. BANC and PacWest Bancorp PACW have agreed to combine in an all-stock merger transaction. Per the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, PacWest will merge into Banc of California, and Banc of California, N.A. will merge into Pacific Western Bank.
The combined holding company and bank will operate under the Banc of California name and brand after the merger is closed. The deal is subject to regulatory nods and approval by the stockholders of both companies, with the closing expected in late 2023 or early 2024.
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