Company Overview
Northmark Bank is a locally owned and managed full service commercial bank. The bank was founded in 1987 by Daniel Murphy and Jane Walsh in response to the need for a community bank focused on high quality customer service and local decision-making. Northmark Bank offers a full range of banking services to individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Its bankers strive to cultivate relationships focused on tailoring banking solutions to each individual client’s banking needs. Northmark currently operates three branches in North Andover, Andover and Winchester, Massachusetts.
Situation
Northmark Bank is a strong, growing and thriving community bank with competitive returns, pristine asset quality and a team of experienced bankers who are deep in their markets. A strategic partnership would help the bank address management succession, benefit from the size and scale necessary to face the challenges of an increasingly evolving industry and gain a breadth in products and services to continue to outperform. It was important for Northmark to partner with an institution that would provide for its shareholders while maintaining the same culture and service for its employees, customers and communities.
Solution
On May 23, 2022, Northmark announced a strategic merger with Cambridge Bancorp (Nasdaq: CATC) of Cambridge, MA, whereby Northmark shareholders will receive 0.9950 shares of CATC common stock for each share of Northmark stock. At the time of announcement, the transaction was valued at approximately $63 million. Cambridge Bancorp is the parent company of Cambridge Trust Company, a 132-year-old commercial bank with $5.0 billion in assets and another $4.7 billion in wealth assets serving customers and communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Jane Walsh, President and CEO and Founder of Northmark, will join the boards of directors of Cambridge Bancorp and Cambridge Trust following closing, and Northmark shareholders will own approximately 10% of the combined company.
The transaction, which closed on October 1, 2022, was successfully consummated despite pressures in the broader economy and bank market in general, with the Nasdaq Bank Index down 17% for the year-to-date prior to announcement. On the day after announcement, CATC stock was up 2.0% while the Nasdaq Bank Index was down 0.5%.
