Hamilton Bancorp seeks to acquire Fraternity Community

Hamilton Bancorp, Inc. and Fraternity Community Bancorp, Inc. have agreed to merge, the banks jointly announced today.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Fraternity Community Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary Fraternity Federal Savings and Loan Association will merge into Hamilton Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary Hamilton Bank in a cash transaction valued at $19.25 per share, or approximately $27 million, the bank said in a statement.

Hamilton will have eight branch locations and more than $500 million in pro-forma assets, with $340 million in loans and deposits of $400 million if the merger is successful.

Fraternity will lose its name and be absorbed as part of Hamilton Bank, said Hamilton Bank CEO Robert DeAlmeida.

The merger still requires approval from Fraternity Community Bancorp shareholders and standard regulatory approvals. The merger is expected to be completed early in the second quarter of 2016.

“Fraternity is a natural fit for us, given our shared dedication to providing superior products and customer service to the Greater Baltimore Metropolitan community for more than 200 years combined. The merger allows Hamilton to leverage our existing presence in Baltimore County and Baltimore City while expanding to Howard County,” said DeAlmeida in a statement.

“Our customers will benefit from Hamilton Bank’s expanded product offerings and technology. Hamilton shares our same community bank philosophy and believes in providing superior customer service that can only be found in a community bank and that our customers value,” said Thomas Sterner, chairman and CEO of Fraternity, in a statement.

DeAlmeida does not know how many Fraternity Community will be kept on after the merger but said that the bank’s 25 employees will be given the chance to re-interview for their jobs. Hamilton has around 58 full-time employees.

This is the second merger announcement in a little over a month for Hamilton. In September, the bank announced that it was acquiring Fairmount Bancorp Inc. That deal will give Hamilton approximately $75 million in assets, $53 million in loans and $53 million in deposits and increase its branch network by one. The merger was approved by Fairmount shareholders on Sept. 8. Fairmount had 12 employees, Hamilton kept five of them, said DeAlmeida.

The former Fairmount branch is now Hamilton’s Rosedale branch.