Brookline Bancorp Announces Agreement to Increase its Investment in Eastern Funding LLC and the Employment of an Experienced Senior Commercial Loan Officer.BROOKLINE, Mass. -- Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :BRKL) announced today that it signed a merger agreement to increase its ownership interest in Eastern Funding LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control ("Eastern") from approximately 29% to 86% through a cash payment of approximately $16.2 million, excluding related transaction costs Transaction Costs Costs incurred when buying or selling securities. These include brokers' commissions and spreads (the difference between the price the dealer paid for a security and the price they can sell it). . Eastern specializes primarily in the financing of coin-operated laundry Laundry can be:
Before industrialization , dry cleaning dry cleaning, process of cleaning fabrics without water. Special solvents and soaps are used so as not to harm fabrics and dyes that will not withstand the effects of ordinary soap and water. Dry cleaning began in France about the middle of the 19th cent. and grocery store equipment in the greater metropolitan New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of area and selected other locations in the Northeast. Since its founding by Michael J. Fanger in 1997, Eastern has originated over $275 million of high yielding loans and experienced an excellent credit history with aggregate net charge-offs of less than 0.5% of total originations. At December 31, 2005, Eastern had total assets of $106 million, including net loans of approximately $100 million. Completion of the acquisition, which is subject to approval by Eastern's investors and the Company's regulators, is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2006 and to be modestly accretive to earnings immediately thereafter. Michael Fanger will continue to serve as the chief executive officer of Eastern and he, along with a family member and two senior officers of Eastern, will hold the minority interest position. Richard P. Chapman, Jr., the Company's chairman and chief executive officer, commented "We have been pleased to be a part-owner of Eastern since 1999 and are enthusiastic about the potential for growth and profitability that can be accomplished through the acquisition. We have the highest regard for Michael Fanger and what he has achieved since founding Eastern. His continued leadership and involvement were essential to our decision to enhance our ownership interest." The Company also announced that it has hired William R. MacKenzie as senior vice president in charge of commercial lending. Mr. MacKenzie has 34 years of experience in originating loans for working capital and other business-related purposes. His most recent experience was to serve as the regional president of a thirty-branch banking unit located outside of Massachusetts Massachusetts (măsəch  `sĭts), most populous of the New England states of the NE United States. . Most of Mr. MacKenzie's business career has been with three major regional banks in Massachusetts. For further information, please contact Paul R. Bechet, chief financial officer of the Company (617-278-6405). |
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