Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., moved closer Tuesday to its goal of becoming a regional banking company with a deal to enter Vermont.
The $2.2 billion-asset Berkshire Hills said it would pay $82 million for Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. in Manchester Center, Vt.
Factory Point has $339 million of assets and seven branches. Its subsidiary, Factory Point National Bank of Manchester Center, is to be merged into Berkshire Bank, which has 38 branches in Massachusetts and New York.
Each Factory Point share is to be exchanged for 0.5844 shares of Berkshire Hills or $19.50 in cash. The overall price would be paid 80% in stock and 20% in cash.
Factory Point's stock closed at $18.64 a share Tuesday, up 26%. Berkshire Hills' shares slipped 1%, to $32.08.
Since taking over as Berkshire Hills' chief executive in 2002, Michael P. Daly has been transforming what had largely been a Berkshire County bank into a more regional player. Berkshire Hills has opened nine branches in New York since early 2005, and a deal two years ago took it into two new Massachusetts counties.
