Webster Chairman and CEO Jim C. Smith

Webster Financial Corp. will beef up its Boston presence early next year when it takes over 14 branches that Citibank is vacating.

The $24 billion Waterbury, Connecticut-based holding company for Webster Bank will not acquire any loans or deposits from Citi in the transaction, but Chairman and CEO Jim C. Smith said the deal gives Webster the opportunity to quickly establish an immediate critical mass in a market he described as “the economic engine of New England.”

“We’ve said that eventually we would have a retail presence in the market because as a strong regional bank based in New England, and Southern New England in particular, we had to have a meaningful Boston presence to complete ourselves,” Smith told Banker & Tradesman.

Webster broke into the Boston market in 2009 with an office in the Financial District, focusing largely on its commercial business here. Smith said that currently Webster has around $1.3 billion in loans and more than $500 million in deposits in this market.

In mid-January, Webster will reopen those 14 banking centers under its brand. Webster is taking over six branches in Boston, two in Cambridge, and one each in Lexington, Newton, Burlington, Brookline, Needham and Wellesley. Citi said in September that it would be exiting its retail presence in Massachusetts, leaving behind 17 branches in the Greater Boston area.

While Webster announced today that it had negotiated lease takeovers from 14 of those soon-to-be-former Citi locations, Smith said the bank is still in talks with the landlords of the remaining three branches and may eventually wind up opening 17 or 18 banking centers in Boston.

A presence in Boston has long been on Webster’s wish list, and when Citi said it would exit the market this year, the Waterbury bank pounced.

“We were looking for something that would be both strategically and economically compelling so when this opportunity came along, we realized this would be perfect. This would be an immediate turnkey de novo program,” Smith said.

Webster did not disclose the terms of the deal, but acknowledged that the acquisition might be dilutive to earnings in 2015, would likely break even in 2017 and accretive to earnings thereafter.

“We think that Boston is easily a billion-dollar additional deposit market for us,” he said. “We’re making an investment upfront to realize that potential over time. We think long term the economics are good and being able to enter the market is worthy of the significant upfront investment.”

He added that Webster will keep all of the equipment in those offices it is taking over and may also retain many of the bankers presently working there. The bank will also mount an aggressive marketing campaign, to include advertising in print, television, digital, social media and public transit.

Smith said he and his team have joked that “if it moves, our name will be on it.”

“The important thing for us is reaching immediate critical mass, making a significant investment which, if we perform well, will have a good return, and that we’re a strong growing regional bank that belongs in Boston as part of our New England franchise of which we are so proud,” he added.