Two Massachusetts mutuals have agreed to a merger that would form a $625 million-asset company.
Berkshire County Savings Bank and Great Barrington Savings Bank said the goal is to ensure the survival of a locally controlled depository institution in the western part of the state.
The merger of would create a strongly capitalized thrift with 11 branches throughout Berkshire County.
The new mutual, to be called Berkshire Bank, would have $530 million of deposits and $165 million of trust assets, making it the largest financial institution based in the county. The thrift would have $174 million of commercial loans and $284 million of consumer loans, including residential mortgages.
The decision by the two mutuals, each more than 130 years old, was based not on any pressure to merge, but on a desire to ensure local control of a large institution serving the community's residents and businesses, said Robert A. Wells, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire County Savings.
"Neither one of us needed to do this," he said, "but we decided that we wanted to be leaders and wanted to put the two banks together to make one strong institution. As we looked to the future, this is what we felt we should do."
The new bank would serve a market that includes parts of northern Connecticut, southern Vermont and eastern New York State. Its competition includes Bank of Boston Corp. and Fleet Financial Group, as well as myriad local thrifts and a large credit union.
With the merger, Berkshire Bank would have 26% of the deposit market in its home county, Bank of Boston 15%, and Fleet 6%, according to June 1995 data.
No stock or cash would be exchanged in the merger of equals, and no branches would be closed. The new board of directors would comprise equal numbers from each bank. The new headquarters would be in Pittsfield, at the franchise's most central branch.
Mr. Wells would be chairman and chief executive of the new thrift. James A. Cunningham, president and chief executive of Great Barrington Savings, would be president and chief operating officer of the new institution.
The merger is subject to approval from state and federal regulators, which is expected to take about six months.
