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Banker & Tradesman file photo
Rockland Trust plans to continue focusing on areas in and around its current market when considering its next bank acquisition, but the bank’s growing size could limit future opportunities.
Rockland Trust CEO Chris Oddleifson said during the bank’s conference call on Friday that he was waiting for the next time someone in the bank’s market or an adjacent market to reach out to about a potential merger. He said the bank’s focus areas are Worcester and areas to the east, where the bank believes represents the majority of New England’s economic activity.
Oddleifson added that the bank has had a good history with mergers within or near areas where the bank has familiarity, which he said lowers risks and increases the likelihood that the merger will succeed. He noted that with its most recent acquisition of East Boston Savings Bank, about 15-16 percent of the commercial portfolio included customers common to both banks.
While the bank’s long run of acquisitions started with smaller institutions, Oddleifson said the bank would now have to consider whether a smaller deal would “move the dial.”
“I think as we’re getting bigger … our size requirements are going to go up a bit,” Oddleifson said. “But we feel like this is a core competence, and we’ve developed it well.”
Rockland Trust completed the acquisition of East Boston Savings Bank on Nov. 12. The deal added a net of 25 branches to Rockland Trust’s footprint, and the bank now has 123 offices, including a mobile branch we acquired with East Boston Savings Bank, nine mortgage centers, 10 investment offices and 19 commercial lending centers.
Rockland Trust acquired assets totaling $6.4 billion in the deal, including $4.9 billion in total loan balances outstanding, Chief Financial Officer Mark Ruggiero said during the call. Total deposit balances acquired were $4.4 billion, and the acquisition added 115,000 deposit accounts and 65,000 households to Rockland Trust.
The bank on Dec. 31 had $20.4 billion in assets, deposit balances of $16.9 billion and total loans of $13.58 billion.
The bank’s parent company, Independent Bank Corp. had fourth quarter net income of $1.7 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to net income of $40 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2021 and $34.6 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2020. The fourth quarter 2021 results reflected pre-tax merger-related costs of $37.2 million associated with the acquisition.
After consolidating 18 branches as part its merger with East Boston Savings Bank, Ruggiero said Rockland Trust has no near-term plans to close additional bank branches.
“[W]e are not following industry trends in closing lots of branches as we believe they are a valuable source of new business referrals for us,” Oddleifson said.
