Middletown-based Liberty Bank is expanding its presence into new communities in Hartford County.
The bank announced that it has agreed to merge with and absorb Simsbury Bank & Trust Co. and its parent company SBT Bancorp. Under the terms of the agreement, Liberty Bank, a mutual savings bank, will pay each shareholder of SBT Bancorp, a publicly traded company, $51.32 per share in cash, giving the transaction a value of approximately $71 million.
The purchase adds Simsbury Bank’s $480 million in assets and five full branches, giving the new entity a combined $5.58 billion in assets and 60 branches. With the new branches, Liberty will enter four new communities including Avon, Bloomfield, Granby and Simsbury, while adding to its presence in West Hartford, where it already has a branch.
“We look forward to the opportunity to expand our footprint, and through continued employee teamwork, will remain committed to exceeding the expectations of customers and giving back to the communities we serve,” Liberty Bank President and CEO David Glidden said in a statement. “Simsbury Bank is an outstanding bank and we are excited to draw upon their talented team of banking professionals and their strengths in small business banking. The philosophy, culture, and footprint of these two franchises fit very well together.”
Simsbury Bank & Trust first opened its doors in 1995 as a way to provide financial services to the Farmington Valley. Since then, it has grown into a full scale community bank that provides advice and local decision making on loans to businesses and families.
The bank has been profitable in recent years, but has struggled with growth. Between the end of 2016 and the end of 2018, the bank saw its assets decline from about $510 million to $480 million, according to the FDIC. However, at the end of 2018, the bank reported providing solid value to shareholders, with a .97 percent return on assets and nearly 12.4 percent return on equity.
“In the years since Simsbury Bank opened its doors in April 1995, we have grown to become the leading bank by many measures in the markets we serve and one of the top performing banks in Connecticut,” Martin J. Geitz, president and CEO of SBT Bancorp and The Simsbury Bank & Trust Co., said in a statement. “As we look to the future, we believe that in becoming part of Liberty Bank our shareholders, customers, employees and communities will benefit from Liberty’s commitment to Connecticut, and the advantages that its scale brings in technology, commercial lending capacity and competitiveness.”
The transaction is expected to close in September 2019. Liberty Bank was represented by Cranmore, FitzGerald & Meaney. SBT Bancorp Inc. was advised by Piper Jaffray & Co. and its legal counsel was Day Pitney LLP.