Washington Trust to acquire Weston Financial Group

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., parent company of The Washington Trust Company, announced Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wellesley, Mass.-based Weston Financial Group Inc., a registered investment advisor with assets under management in excess of $1.2 billion.

Weston Financial specializes in providing financial planning and investment counseling services to high net worth individuals through third-party open-architecture wealth management products, according to the bank. Weston Financial Group, founded in 1979, has clients in the Boston Metro area, New England, and throughout the country.

Westerly-based Washington Trust said it will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Weston’s capital stock for $20 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments. Washington Trust expects to finance this transaction primarily through the issuance of trust preferred stock and other sources and does not expect to issue any common stock in connection with the transaction, the bank said. Washington Trust said in a statement that it expects the acquisition, which is subject to state and federal regulatory approval and other customary conditions, will most likely be completed in the third quarter of 2005.

Under the agreement, Weston Financial will become a subsidiary of Washington Trust and will be operated under the direction of its current management team. Weston has 27 employees and is led by six principals, who have approximately 150 years of combined wealth management experience. The firm has expertise in retirement planning, estate planning, investment management, tax planning and preparation, stock option planning, and insurance analysis.

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The acquisition is expected to provide significant strategic advantages to Washington Trust. The bank said it expects its assets to increase by more than 50 percent to approximately $3.1 billion. The addition of Weston Financial Group is expected to bring Washington Trust’s total noninterest income to approximately 39 percent of total revenues on an annualized basis. Washington Trust, which currently operates wealth management offices in Providence, Narragansett and Westerly, will also now have a presence in the Boston Metro area.

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