Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. plans to raise capital for its pending acquisition of DeWitt–based Beacon Federal Bancorp.
Berkshire Hills (NASDAQ: BHLB) entered a subscription agreement for a private placement of $75 million in 15-year, fixed-to-floating-rate subordinated notes due in 2027. The offering should close Friday, according to the bank.
The Pittsfield, Mass.–based banking company said it will use some of the proceeds to fund the cash portion of the Beacon Federal deal and the rest for other corporate purposes. The acquisition, valued at $132 million, is scheduled to close in October. Berkshire first announced the deal in May.
Beacon Federal (NASDAQ: BFED) has $1 billion in assets and seven branches in DeWitt, East Syracuse, Marcy, and Rome, as well as Smartt, Tenn., Smyrna, Tenn., and Chelmsford, Mass. Berkshire Hills has total assets of $4.3 billion and 68 branches in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.
Berkshire began operating in Central New York in 2011 after its acquisition of Rome Savings Bank.
Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com