Independent Bank, parent of Rockland Trust, closed its acquisition of Blue Hills Bancorp, parent of Blue Hills Bank. Blue Hills Bank merged with and into Rockland Trust, with Rockland Trust the surviving entity. The customer and brand conversion will occur over the weekend of June 8, 2019.
As consideration for the merger each Blue Hills Bancorp share will be exchanged for 0.2308 of a share of Independent’s common stock and $5.25 in cash, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares at a price of $78.48 per share, an amount determined by the volume-weighted average closing price of a share of Independent common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market for the five trading days ending on the fifth trading day immediately preceding the closing date of the merger. As a result of the merger, former Blue Hills Bancorp shareholders will receive approximately 6,166,383 shares of Independent common stock in the aggregate and an aggregate of approximately $167.4 million in cash, inclusive of the payment made to cash out outstanding stock options and excluding cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. Including the shares issued in connection with the acquisition, Independent will now have approximately 34,303,887 shares of common stock outstanding.
Independent has appointed William M. Parent, David A. Powers, and Scott Smith as class III directors, with initial terms expiring at Independent’s 2020 Annual Shareholder Meeting. Rockland Trust also simultaneously appointed Parent, Powers, and Smith to its board of directors.
Parent was the president and CEO of Blue Hills Banks, Blue Hills Bancorp and its predecessor company. Prior to that role, Parent served as a partner and chief investment officer at Grail Partners, a boutique merchant bank. Parent has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, including 16 years at Bank of Boston and its successor companies, FleetBoston and Bank of America, where he held senior executive roles in Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Bank Management and Private Equity Investing.
Powers worked for decades in the insurance industry, most recently as a vice president of Burgin Platner & Company in Quincy, MA. Prior to joining Burgin Platner, Powers was a partner at the insurance agency known as Charles A. Powers and Sons.
Smith is the president, CEO and co-founder of The SC Group, which provides services to philanthropic organizations throughout New England with respect to strategic planning, program development, board development, executive director searches and fundraising. Smith has over 26 years of experience in the philanthropic sector and has previously held chief executive officer, executive director, and vice president of operations positions.
