In Massachusetts, Meridian Bancorp Inc. of Peabody is buying Dorchester-based Meetinghouse Bancorp Inc. for approximately $17.8 million.

Meridian will pay $26.00 in cash for each Meetinghouse common share and expects the acquisition to be 2% to 3% accretive to earnings per share, largely due to consolidation efficiencies. The internal rate of return is estimated at approximately 20%.

SNL calculates the deal value to be 157.2% of book and tangible book, on a per-share basis. It is 18.29% of deposits and 15.23% of assets. The deal has a tangible book-to-core deposits premium of 11.54%. For comparison, SNL valuations for bank and thrift targets in the Northeast region between June 26, 2016, and June 26, 2017, averaged 161.60% of book, 164.28% of tangible book and had a median of 35.42x last-12-months earnings, on a per-share basis.

The one-day premium is 66.13%, based on Meetinghouse's closing price of $15.65 as of June 23. The one-month premium is 67.31%, based on the target's closing price of $15.54 as of May 26.

Meridian is the holding company of East Boston Savings Bank, which had $4.55 billion in assets as of March 31. Meetinghouse's Meetinghouse Bank had $117.6 million in assets at the end of the first quarter, as well as $80 million in loans and $99 million in deposits.

The deal increases Meridian's branch count by two and expands the buyer's presence in the Dorchester and Roslindale markets.

SNL data shows that Meridian Bancorp will expand in Suffolk County, Mass., with two branches, to be ranked no. 10 with a 0.92% share of total market deposits of about $189.93 billion.

The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Piper Jaffray & Co. and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP served as Meridian's financial adviser and legal counsel, respectively. For Meetinghouse, it was Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. and Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP.

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