Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (BHLB) Finalizes Acquisition of Beacon Federal

Today, Berkshire Hills Bancorp, the parent of Berkshire Bank, completed its acquisition of Beacon Federal Bancorp, Inc., a bank with assets of nearly $1.0 billion. With seven offices and headquarters in East Syracuse, N.Y., Beacon Federal has been merged into Berkshire Bank.

With this acquisition, Berkshire now has a total of 10 offices in the Syracuse/Rome/Utica area of New York. The company has been working closely with Beacon’s team to prepare for the merger and is now introducing its increased lending resources and additional products and services to its new customers, as well as its service resources for communities.

The total common stock consideration paid by Berkshire will include approximately $60 million in cash and 2.7 million shares of BHLB common stock. Among Beacon’s shareholders, a cash/stock election will be concluded at 5 p.m. today, Oct. 19, 2012. Election results are planned to be reported by Berkshire, along with the distribution of consideration, within a week of the election deadline, in accordance with the merger agreement.

Upon completion of the merger, Berkshire will have assets totaling around $5.5 billion and a total of 73 branches serving Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont (excluding two Tennessee Beacon branches that are intended to be divested). Outstanding shares for Berkshire will total approximately 25 million, resulting in a market capitalization exceeding $550 million. The cash consideration for the Beacon closing was chiefly financed with proceeds from $75 million in subordinated debt, which was invested in Berkshire on Sept. 28, 2012, by institutional investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, the parent of Berkshire Bank, has approximately $5.5 billion in assets and 73 full service branch offices in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. The company provides personal and business banking, insurance, and wealth management services. Berkshire Bank offers 100 percent deposit insurance protection for all deposit accounts – regardless of amount – based on a combination of FDIC insurance and the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF).

For more information, visit www.berkshirebank.com

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