Old Line Bancshares to Buy WSB Holdings in Maryland Deal

Old Line Bancshares has agreed to buy WSB Holdings in a deal that will combine two banks based in Bowie, Md.

Old Line will pay $49 million, or $6.12 a share, in cash and stock for the $374 million-asset WSB, which is the parent of Washington Savings Bank, the companies said in a press release late Monday. Old Line, which had $846 million in assets at June 30, will also pick up five branches from the deal. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013 and should add to Old Line's earnings by early 2014.

The aggregate merger consideration is skewed toward stock, making up 65% of the payment. Old Line will issue about 3 million shares of its stock and pay $17 million in cash. William J. Harnett, WSB's chairman, and another director will join Old Line's board.

"Over the last ten years, we have seen Maryland's largest independent banks vanish, purchased one-by-one by out-of-state banks," Phillip C. Bowman, WSB's chief executive, said in a press release. "This partnership is a step toward beginning to fill that void."

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