Webster Financial Corp. of Waterbury, Conn., said it has a definitive agreement to buy Village Bancorp of Ridgefield, Conn., for $46 million in stock.
Village Bancorp shareholders are to get $23.50 of Webster stock-or 2.7 times book value-for each share they own. They also can ask that Webster pay up to 20% of the deal price in cash.
The deal would nearly double the number of Webster branches in affluent Fairfield County. Webster, with $9.2 billion of assets, operates more than 100 branches in Connecticut.
Village Bancorp is the $230 million-asset parent of Village Bank and Trust. The agreement is to close in the first quarter.