News
October 16, 2017Berkshire Hills Completes Commerce Bancshares Acquisition
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) has completed the acquisition of Commerce Bancshares Corp. and the merger of Commerce Bank & Trust Company into Berkshire Bank, effective at the close of business on October 13, 2017.
“We’re excited to officially welcome Commerce’s customers, employees and shareholders to the Berkshire family,” commented Chief Executive Officer, Michael Daly. “Commerce has a long standing reputation as a top quality financial institution as well as a strong community partner. We’re pleased to continue this tradition, while bringing Berkshire’s additional products and culture of energy and service to our new customers, employees and the communities in which they live and work. This acquisition marks a new chapter for Berkshire, taking us over $10 billion in assets and providing the catalyst to relocate our corporate headquarters to Boston. We’re well positioned for the opportunities that lie ahead of us and look forward to completing the systems integration in March 2018.”
Berkshire issued approximately 4.84 million common shares and 521,000 shares of non-voting convertible preferred stock as merger consideration in the stock for stock exchange detailed in the merger agreement. The total stock consideration is valued at approximately $230 million. Including the new shares issued, Berkshire’s outstanding common stock has increased to approximately 45.3 million shares, resulting in a market capitalization of approximately $1.8 billion.
Commerce’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian W. Thompson, along with Chief Operating Officer, Michael J. Crawford, will serve as advisors to Berkshire and liaisons to the local community.
With this acquisition, Berkshire adds sixteen branches in the Worcester and Boston areas and becomes the largest regional bank headquartered in Massachusetts. The merger adds approximately $1.8 billion in assets, bringing the combined assets to $11.6 billion.
