NBT’s Salisbury acquisition paves the way for growth

NORWICH, N.Y. — The planned acquisition of Salisbury Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAL) will help NBT Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:) bridge the geographical gap between its existing branches and set it up for future growth along the state’s “chip corridor” from Syracuse to Poughkeepsie.

The banking companies announced the $204 million, all-equity deal on Dec. 5, with plans for the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2023.

The acquisition will add 14 branches to NBT’s current roster of 140 NBT Bank, N.A. offices across New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut. Salisbury Bank and Trust Company branches are located in northwestern Connecticut, southwestern Massachusetts, and the Hudson Valley region of New York.

That geography is just one reason the bank acquisition is an attractive one, NBT president and CEO John H. Watt, Jr. says in an interview. The addition of Salisbury’s branches, which will convert to NBT Bank branches, is a contiguous expansion of NBT’s existing footprint, he says, and sets the stage for further expansion.

“We feel good about how we can together accelerate that growth,” Watt says of the Salisbury acquisition.

Between Micron Technology’s planned chip fab in the Syracuse area, expected to generate nearly 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, to IBM’s recent announcement it would invest $20 billion in the Poughkeepsie region, the corridor is poised for growth that NBT can capitalize on, Watt says.

“I could see us determining we need more branch banking sites,” Watt says, adding, “We’ll see.” 

First, the banking companies must navigate the merger of the two institutions. For Salisbury Bancorp, the deal merges it into a larger bank, bringing numerous advantages, President and CEO Richard J. Cantele, Jr. says. “On the lending side, we’ve been running up against lending limits due to our size,” he explains. Salisbury currently has assets of $1.51 billion, deposits of $1.33 billion, and net loans of $1.8 billion as of Sept. 30. 

With those lending limits, Salisbury can’t keep up with customers as they grow and need larger loans. That led the banking company to seek a larger partner due to those challenges of scale.

Overall, the corporate culture as well as the product sets of the two banks are consistent, Cantele says. NBT has somewhat more robust products and services and is further along on the development of digital platforms, he says. Both will benefit Salisbury customers.

“I think we’ll be able to provide more and better service to our customers in a more efficient manner,” Cantele contends.

Salisbury Bancorp will add about $1 billion in assets under management to NBT’s wealth-management business.

NBT plans to retain Salisbury’s 180 employees, which means “our customers will continue to work with the people they’ve come to know and trust,” Cantele adds.

Watt says NBT will benefit from the utilization of a regional operations center in Lakeville, Connecticut, where Salisbury Bancorp is headquartered, especially since NBT has struggled to fill some open positions. After learning during the pandemic that the banking company can work both regionally and, when needed, remotely, the operations center is a great asset, he adds.

Norwich–based NBT Bancorp is a financial holding company that operates NBT Bank, as well as Rochester–based EPIC Retirement Plan Services, a benefits-administration firm, and NBT Insurance Agency, a full-service insurance agency.

Salisbury Bancorp is the holding company for Salisbury Bank and Trust Co., which is chartered as a state bank and trust company by the state of Connecticut.