PORTLAND, Maine - Banknorth Group Inc., continuing its New England buying spree, said late Thursday it would acquire Warren Bancorp Inc. of Peabody, Mass., for $122.6 million in cash and stock.
The $460 million-asset parent of Warren Five Cents Savings Bank operates six branches in Essex County and has $394 million of deposits and $345 million of loans. The acquisition would give $21.3 billion-asset Banknorth the leading market share in affluent North Shore county.
Warren shareholders would receive $15.75 per share or a number of Banknorth shares. The deal is expected to close by yearend.
Banknorth, on a mission to have $30 billion of assets by 2005, announced in April that it would buy $663 million-asset Bancorp Connecticut Inc. of Southington. In the past 12 months Banknorth has expanded its reach in Massachusetts through its purchases of Andover Bancorp, MetroWest Bank, and Ipswich Bancshares.
