Eastern Bankshares, the stock holding company for Eastern Bank, and Century Bancorp, the stock holding company for Century Bank and Trust Company, jointly announced they have entered into a definitive all-cash merger agreement with an aggregate transaction value of $642 million. This in-market transaction comes less than six months after Eastern’s initial public offering that raised approximately $1.7 billion in equity capital.
Under terms of the merger agreement, which has been unanimously approved by both boards of directors, Century shareholders will receive $115.28 in cash for each share of Century Bancorp, Inc.’s common stock. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals, shareholder approval and other standard conditions. Century’s directors and executive officers and certain of their affiliates have agreed to vote in favor of the merger. Upon closing, Eastern intends to merge Century into Eastern with Eastern continuing as the surviving entity and concurrently merge Century Bank into Eastern Bank and convert Century customers to the Eastern platform with Century Bank branches assuming the Eastern Bank name.
“We’ve admired Century’s success since its founding by Marshall Sloane in 1969 and today they are New England’s largest family-run bank. Under the leadership of Barry R. Sloane and Linda Sloane Kay, the Century Bank brand has continued to rise in prominence and it was a proud moment for us when they communicated they wanted to partner with Eastern,” said Bob Rivers, Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. and Eastern Bank. “We are excited for the opportunities this agreement creates and believe our combination will deepen our reach in providing banking services and other support to communities across Greater Boston and southern New Hampshire.”
“Our complementary business models and shared values make this partnership a natural fit,” said Barry R. Sloane, Chairman, President and CEO of Century Bank. “Both organizations are highly respected as leaders in the community, and we believe Eastern’s focus on innovation and technology will help to further ensure Century customers have greater access to banking products and services that meet their needs where and when they need them.”
Eastern has approximately $16 billion in assets, the largest deposit market share in both the Boston MSA and Massachusetts of any bank headquartered in Massachusetts, and owns the third largest insurance agency in Massachusetts. Century Bank, with $6.4 billion in assets, is the third largest Massachusetts headquartered bank in the Boston MSA.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as financial advisor and Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP provided legal counsel to Eastern. Piper Sandler & Co. served as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP provided legal counsel to Century.