Eastern Bankshares, a Massachusetts-based bank with more than 100 offices, filed to list on the Nasdaq in a subscription offering on Thursday.
Note: Renaissance Capital will not track Eastern Bankshares' listing in our 2020 IPO stats, because it is not a fully underwritten offering; it is a subscription offering being made on a best efforts, min-max basis.
The company expects to raise between $1.3 billion and $2.0 billion by offering shares in connection with its conversion from a mutual holding company into a publicly traded stock form of organization. The bank plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol EBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods is the company's selling agent on a best efforts basis in the subscription and community offerings, and J.P. Morgan is serving as capital markets advisor. The firms have agreed to underwrite any amount sold in the syndicated offering.
The shares of common stock are first being offered in a "subscription offering" to eligible depositors and tax-qualified employee benefit plans of Eastern Bank, as well as employees, officers, trustees, directors and corporators of Eastern Bank and affiliates. Shares not purchased in the subscription offering may be offered for sale to the general public in a "community offering," with a preference given to residents of the communities served by Eastern Bank. Any shares of common stock not purchased in the subscription or community offerings may be offered to the public through a syndicate of broker-dealers in the "syndicated offering."
Founded in 1818 as a local savings bank, the Boston-based bank now has 89 banking offices and 22 insurance offices located primarily in eastern Massachusetts, as well as southern and coastal New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island. As of March 31, 2020, the company had consolidated total assets of $12.3 billion, total gross loans of $9.1 billion, total deposits of $10.3 billion and total stockholders' equity of $1.7 billion. For the quarter ended March 31, 2020 net income was $8.4 million, and annualized return on average assets was 0.29% driven by a net interest margin of 0.94%, cost of total deposits of 0.23% and fee income as a percent of revenue of 29.5%.
