NEW BEDFORD – Luzo Community Bank (www.luzobank.com) has agreed to be acquired by BankFive Corp. (www.bankfive.com) of Fall River for an undisclosed sum.
The agreement was signed Tuesday, according to Jose Gouveia, Luzo’s CEO and chairman of the board, who described the transaction as a merger. The deal previously had been approved by both companies’ boards of directors, but is still subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. “This won’t be closed for, I’d say, at least two months,” Gouveia told the PBN in a telephone interview this morning.
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Gouveia – who said that “at 75, I’m ready to take a little bit of a back seat” – will remain as an adviser but said he has asked that he have no formal title in the new company, which will retain the BankFive name.
The New Bedford bank had been seeking a partner for some time, Gouveia said, because a lack of resources was hampering its ability to serve the local community. “We had feelers go out about a year and a half, two years ago,” and had received previous offers from other institutions, “but the terms were not conducive.”
The BankFive deal will bring Luzo’s customers greater loan reserves, more branches and access to ATM machines and other technology, Gouveia said. “It’s a great, great marriage between New Bedford and Fall River, especially for the Portuguese community … and the fishing industry,” Gouveia said.
Luzo Community Bank – whose holding company is New Bedford Community Bancorp – has two offices, 29 employees and about $62 million in deposits, $41 million in loans and $69 million in total assets, according to iBanknet.
BankFive Corp. – the sole banking subsidiary of Bankfive MHC – has nine offices, 158 employees and about $446 million in deposits, $455 million in loans and $603 million in total assets, iBanknet reports.
