Salisbury Bancorp, Riverside Bank to merge in all-stock transaction

Salisbury Bancorp and Riverside Bank announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $28M, based on the closing price of Salisbury common stock on March 18, pursuant to which Riverside will merge into Salisbury Bank and Trust Company, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Salisbury. Based on financial results as of December 31, 2013, the combined organization would have approximately $808M in total assets, $630M in total loans and $682M in total deposits with 13 branch locations across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. The merger is expected to be accretive to both Salisbury's and Riverside's EPS by over 10% with fully phased in cost savings, excluding the impact of potential revenue enhancement opportunities. Additionally, Salisbury anticipates the transaction to be accretive to its tangible common equity ratio, with the combined company's regulatory capital ratios well in excess of regulatory minimums to support continued growth. In the merger, Riverside shareholders will receive 1.35 shares of Salisbury Bancorp common stock for each share of Riverside Bank common stock. Upon closing, Riverside shareholders will own approximately 37% of the stock in the combined company. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 or Q4.