By Stephen Nakrosis

Eastern Bankshares agreed to a deal which would see HarborOne Bancorp merge into the full-service bank in a stock and cash transaction valued at $490 million.

HarborOne investors will have the option to receive either 0.765 shares of Eastern common stock or $12 in cash for each HarborOne share, Eastern said Thursday. The deal is subject to allocation procedures to ensure that the total number of shares of HarborOne receiving stock consideration falls between 75% and 85% of the company's common stock outstanding, prior to the completion of the merger deal, the companies said.

Eastern said assuming 80% stock consideration, it expects to issue about 25.2 million shares of common stock and pay an aggregate amount of $99 million in cash. Based on the $15.48 per share closing price on April 23, Eastern said, the transaction is valued at about $490 million.

Eastern Chief Executive Officer Denis Sheahan said the deal is a financially compelling transaction with 16% earnings accretion and a tangible book value earnback of 2.8 years.

The deal was approved by the boards of both companies, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

The merger will allow Eastern to bolster its position in Greater Boston area while expanding into Rhode Island.

Eastern Bankshares is the holding company for Eastern Bank, and HarborOne Bancorp is the holding company for HarborOne Bank.

After the bell Thursday, shares of Eastern Bankshares were trading 1.3% higher, at $16. HarborOne shares fell in the after-hours market by almost 2%, trading at $9.86.

Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2025 17:27 ET (21:27 GMT)

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