On July 6, 2026, Hometown Financial Group, Inc., Easthampton, Massachusetts, the parent company of bankESB, entered into a merger agreement pursuant to which it will acquire Primary Bank, Bedford, New Hampshire, in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $160 million.

Luse Gorman is serving as legal counsel to Hometown Financial in the transaction. The Luse Gorman team consists of Scott Brown, Lawrence Spaccasi, Kent Krudys, Marc Levy, Max Seltzer and Keeler Fina.

Hometown Financial is a $6.9 billion multi-bank mutual holding company headquartered in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and the parent company of bankESB, bankHometown, TruNorth Bank, and Hometown Mortgage. The banks operate through 55 locations throughout Massachusetts, northeastern Connecticut, and southern New Hampshire.

Primary Bank has approximately $743 million in total assets and is headquartered in Bedford, New Hampshire with offices in Derry, Manchester, and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Luse Gorman has acted as counsel on more than 100 bank M&A transactions during the past seven years and on more bank M&A transactions than any other law firm in the nation over the past 20 years. To learn more about our mergers and acquisitions practice, please visit our website.