The conversion advisers that landed the Boston-based Eastern Bankshares Inc. offering were the big winners in 2020.

Eastern completed a mutual-to-stock conversion Oct. 14, 2020. It raised $1.79 billion in gross proceeds, which was the fourth-largest mutual bank conversion since 1994. Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP was the conversion counsel, Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. was the deal manager and RP Financial LC was the appraisal firm.

Nutter McClennen had not served as the law firm for a converting mutual bank since Auburn, Maine-based Auburn Bancorp Inc. (MHC)'s mutual holding company conversion in August 2008. In addition to working on numerous M&A deals in the banking space, including representing Bedford, N.H.-based Centrix Bank & Trust when it was acquired by Eastern in October 2014, Nutter McClennen was Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP's counsel for Amesbury, Mass.-based Provident Bancorp Inc.'s second-stage conversion in October 2019.

Luse Gorman PC was the law firm for the two second-stage conversions and for the lone MHC conversion in 2020: Teaneck, N.J.-based Bogota Financial Corp. Luse Gorman co-founder Eric Luse died in June 2020.

Breyer & Associates PC acted as legal counsel for the smallest conversion of 2020: Springfield, Mo.-based Systematic Savings Bank, with $6.0 million in gross proceeds. The firm's most recent deal in the space had been Salem, Ind.-based Mid-Southern Bancorp Inc.'s second-stage conversion in July 2018.

KBW dominated the deal manager rankings, with three conversions totaling more than $1.8 billion in gross proceeds. Piper Sandler Cos., which acquired Sandler O'Neill at the beginning of 2020, and Janney Montgomery Scott LLC split the other two conversions.

Among appraisers, RP Financial worked on the two largest conversions by gross proceeds, Keller & Co. Inc. claimed the next two largest deals and Feldman Financial Advisors Inc. performed the appraisal for Systematic Savings.