Abington, Massachusetts - Andrew Raczka, CEO of Abington Bank, announced today that Abington Bank will merge with Pilgrim Bank, a member of the Hometown Financial Group, MHC. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.  Raczka will lead the merged bank as its CEO.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Pilgrim Bank,” said Raczka. “Our combined resources and expanded branch network will enable us to better serve customers in Plymouth and Norfolk counties.  We will have the size and scale needed to be a meaningful player in this market and be able to offer the products and services our customers need with the local commitment they deserve.  This transaction will allow us to truly set ourselves apart from the competition.”

Easthampton, Massachusetts and Cohasset, Massachusetts - Hometown Financial Group, Inc. the holding company for bankESB (Easthampton, MA) and bankHometown (Oxford, MA), and Pilgrim Bancshares, Inc. (OTC: PLRM) have jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement in which Hometown Financial Group, Inc. will acquire Pilgrim Bancshares, Inc. Pilgrim Bancshares is the parent company of Pilgrim Bank, a $263 million Massachusetts-chartered cooperative bank with branches located in the Massachusetts communities of Cohasset and Marion. 

Easthampton, MA and Oxford, MA - Easthampton Savings Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of ESB Bancorp, Inc., (ESB) and Hometown Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hometown Community Bancorp, Inc., jointly announced today that they will form a strategic partnership through the merger of their holding companies.  After this transaction is completed, the combined mutual holding company will have over $1.7 billion in assets and over $180 million in equity capital with a branch network of 23 offices located throughout central and western Massachusetts and northeast Connecticut.  This announcement follows ESB’s 2015 acquisition of the Citizens National Bank in Putnam, CT, and continues a well-constructed growth plan. The two banks will merge mutual holding companies, but will continue to run their banks independently and autonomously.