Berkshire Hills Reports Final Merger Consideration For Beacon Federal Bancorp Shareholders

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.

today announces the cash/stock election results for its acquisition of Beacon Federal Bancorp on October 19, 2012. Berkshire CEO Michael Daly stated, "We are pleased with the strong demand for our stock demonstrated in this election.  Nearly 90% of those who voted chose Berkshire stock for their consideration.  Our stock closed at $23.70 yesterday, which was up by 9% from the $21.82 closing price on the date of our merger agreement.  We are issuing approximately 2.7 million new Berkshire shares to former Beacon shareholders.  With this merger consideration, we now have nearly 25 million shares outstanding, with a current market capitalization near $600 million.  This increase is expected to improve the liquidity and visibility of our stock.  We welcome our new shareholders from Beacon, who will be eligible for the $0.18/share dividend that we just declared, and which has been increased by 6% beginning with the upcoming payment.  We will be celebrating this growth when we ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on November 29 subsequent to the transfer of our stock listing to that exchange in November."