Dive Brief:
- Alexandria, Virginia-based Burke & Herbert Financial Services Corp. has agreed to buy Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based LinkBancorp, parent company of LinkBank, for $354.2 million in stock, the companies said Thursday.
- The deal would create a bank with $11 billion in assets, $9.1 billion in deposits and $8 billion in loans. It would give Burke & Herbert entry into Pennsylvania and a 100-branch footprint across six states.
- The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.
Dive Insight:
Acquiring LinkBank would add 24 branches and four loan production offices to Burke & Herbert’s 75-location footprint. Link counts about $3.1 billion in assets, $2.7 billion in deposits and $2.5 billion in gross loans, according to an investor presentation.
The deal “marks another transformative milestone” for Burke & Herbert, said CEO David P. Boyle, bolstering the lender’s profile as a Mid-Atlantic bank with a regional presence.
“By uniting the strengths of Burke & Herbert and LINK, we are positioning ourselves to deliver unparalleled value to our customers, employees, communities and shareholders,” Boyle said in the release. “Our entry into Pennsylvania and the expanded presence across key Mid-Atlantic markets underscores our unwavering commitment to community banking and reinforces our reputation as a trusted financial partner wherever we operate.”
The deal is only Burke & Herbert’s second acquisition. The bank tripled its branch footprint with the 2024 acquisition of Moorefield, West Virginia-based Summit Financial Group. That $371.5 million transaction gave Burke & Herbert a presence in West Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Link, too, has been active in recent years: The lender merged with Salisbury, Maryland-based, $1.7 billion-asset Partners Bancorp for $167.8 million in 2023. Link then sold three New Jersey branches it gained through that deal to Philadelphia-based American Heritage Credit Union, in a move meant to narrow the bank’s focus to Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.
“Burke & Herbert's dedication to its core values of serving & leading, delivering more, elevating everyone, and always being invested are demonstrated in its financial results and make them a great partner that accelerates our ability to deliver value for all our stakeholders,” Link CEO Andrew Samuel said.
As part of the deal, two Link directors will join Burke & Herbert’s board. Samuel will join Burke & Herbert Bank’s board and serve as a senior adviser. Additionally, Link executives Carl Lundblad and Brent Smith will be appointed executive vice president and Pennsylvania market leader on Burke & Herbert’s executive team, respectively.
Link investors will receive 0.1350 shares of Burke & Herbert stock, or $9.42 in value, for each Link share they own, based on Burke & Herbert's closing stock price of $69.45 from Wednesday. Burke & Herbert shareholders will own about 75% of the combined company, while Link shareholders will own the remaining 25%, the companies said.
The deal’s tangible book value dilution is about 10%, with a 3.2 year earn-back period, according to the investor presentation. The transaction is expected to be about 18% accretive to earnings per share in 2027.
Regulatory easing brought on by appointees of the Trump administration has spurred an uptick in bank mergers and acquisitions this year. About 175 bank deals have been announced this year – a 48% increase over the prior year – with six valued at $1 billion or more, according to a Dec. 16 note from J.P. Morgan Securities analyst Anthony Elian.
