Boston-headquartered Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: BHLB) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Berkshire Bank is selling 10 of its branches in upstate New York.
The sales include approximately $485.5 million in deposits, $60.5 million of related residential mortgage and consumer loans along with all branch premises and equipment. The transactions exclude Berkshire’s commercial banking business.
Hudson Valley Credit Union is purchasing eight locations in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Columbia counties, Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company is purchasing one location in Whitehall and Pathfinder Bank is purchasing one location in East Syracuse. The buyers intend to offer employment to all associated staff.
The financial aspects of the sales were not disclosed. Berkshire’s overall branch footprint will be reduced from 96 to 86 locations, including 16 branches in New York State.
“Our announcement today is another step in our continued efforts to create efficiencies in our branch network so we can continue to invest in our bankers and client experience to further improve our long-term profitability,” said CEO Nitin Mhatre. “The proposed sales will concentrate our overall geographic footprint and lower our expense run rate, while strengthening focus in our core New York markets. The branch sales combined with a future securities sale will not materially increase borrowings and will be effectively neutral to full year 2024 earnings outlook.”
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