FleetBoston to sell five Summit branches

BOSTON (Bloomberg) — FleetBoston Financial Corp. said it will sell five Summit
Bank branches in Atlantic County, New Jersey, to Richmond County Financial Corp.
to meet regulatory conditions for its Summit Bancorp acquisition Boston-based
FleetBoston, the seventh-largest U.S. bank, won approval for its takeover of Princeton,
New Jersey-based Summit Bancorp, the state’s biggest bank, earlier this month.
In a separate transaction, Richmond County, which owns Richmond County Savings
Bank, said it would also buy two Fleet branches on Staten Island, New York, gaining
$100 million in deposits and $21 million in small business and consumer loans.
Terms for either transaction weren’t disclosed. Richmond County picks up a total
of seven branches from FleetBoston, $300million in deposits and $61 million in
small business and consumer loans. It expects both transactions to close in the
second quarter.