Eastern to Buy Wainwright in Massachusetts Deal

Wainwright Bank & Trust Co. has agreed to be acquired for about $163 million — twice the company's previous value — by privately held Eastern Bank Corp., merging a pair of eastern Massachusetts lenders.

Wainwright holders will get $19 a share, a 98% premium to Monday's closing price and an all-time high for the stock.

Eastern Bank is much larger than Wainwright, having $6.6 billion in assets compared with $1 billion. The combined company will have more than 90 branches, including 22 in the Boston metropolitan area.

The deal is slated to close in the fourth quarter, with the Wainwright brand eventually disappearing. Wainwright co-founders and co-chairmen Robert Glassman and John Plukas would join Eastern Bank's board, with President and Chief Executive Jan Miller being president at Eastern Bank.

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