Banknorth agrees to buy CCBT Financial

CCBT Financial is the parent of Cape Cod Bank & Trust. Each CCBT share will be exchanged for 1.084 shares of Portland, Maine- based Banknorth. That values CCBT shares at $35.52 each, 38 percent more than CCBT's closing price Monday.

The CCBT purchase will give Banknorth 26 branches in Barnstable and Plymouth counties. South Yarmouth-based CCBT has $1.4 billion in assets and is Barnstable's number two bank behind closely held Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, Banknorth spokesman Brian Arsenault said.

Two weeks ago, Banknorth agreed to buy Foxborough Savings Bank for $89.6 million to add four offices in affluent suburbs south of Boston. The announced acquisitions give Banknorth its first Massachusetts locations south of Boston, Arsenault said.

The CCBT purchase, expected to close by the middle of 2004, will cut costs by 25 percent as Banknorth takes over back-office tasks. The company will try to find other positions for people whose jobs will be eliminated, Arsenault said.

Cape Cod Bank & Trust branches will be renamed Banknorth Massachusetts, Arsenault said. Banknorth has about 360 branches in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, with $25.7 billion in assets.

Lehman Brothers Inc. advised Banknorth on the purchase and CCBT was advised by Keefe, Bruyette, & Woods Inc.

Banknorth shares fell 71 cents to $32.06 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday.

CCBT shares rose $8.41, or 33 percent, to $34.15 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.