Passumpsic Bancorp in St. Johnsbury, Vt., has announced a deal to buy Lancaster National Bank in New Hampshire for $12.8 million in cash.
The mutually owned Passumpsic said late Wednesday that it had agreed to pay $57 per share for Lancaster, which has three branches in Coos County.
The deal price works out to 199.6% of Lancaster's tangible book value and a 15.4% premium on its core deposits.
Passumpsic said it intends to merge the $54.7 million-asset Lancaster with its $503 million-asset Passumpsic Savings Bank, which has 11 branches.
The deal is a rarity: It is unusual for a stock company to be bought by a mutually owned one.
This would be the second whole-bank purchase for Passumpsic. In 2006 it bought Siwooganock Bank, also in Lancaster.
Passumpsic is to remain a mutual institution, Peter F. Crosby, its president and chief executive officer, said in a press release. The deal is expected to close around midyear.
