Westfield Financial To Acquire Chicopee Bancorp for $20.42 Per Share

Westfield Financial, Inc. WFD announced on Tuesday it has entered into a definitive merger agreement in which it will acquire Chicopee Bancorp, Inc. CBNK

As part of the agreement, Chicopee shareholders will receive 2.425 shares of Westfield stock for each share of Chicopee they hold. The deal implies a buyout price of $20.42 per share, based on the closing price of Westfield's common stock on April 4.

The combined entity will hold assets of more than $2 billion, tangible equity of over $215 million and 21 branch locations across western Massachusetts and north Connecticut. Westfield Financial expects the deal to be significantly accretive to its earnings per share beginning in the first full year.

The deal has already been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2016.

"We are excited to combine with such a strong partner as Chicopee," stated James C. Hagan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westfield. "As we have gotten to know Bill Wagner and his team over time, we have been pleased at the commonality of our cultures, operating models and the customer service focus of our two institutions. Although headquartered in the same county, we currently serve two distinct customer bases, which, when combined, will complement each other tremendously. A merger of our two banks will be extremely favorable for the shareholders, customers, employees and communities of both institutions."