Banknorth to Buy Drake, Swan & Crocker in Mass.

June 21, 2004

Portland, Me.-based Banknorth Group has signed a letter of intent to acquire Drake, Swan & Crocker Insurance Agency, Inc. of Orleans, Mass. The company expects to finalize the acquisition by July 1.

Drake, Swan & Crocker (DS&C) serves more than 10,000 customers throughout Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts.

The firm will become part of Banknorth Insurance Agency, Inc./MA, the Massachusetts arm of Banknorth Insurance Group. All 31 DS&C employees will be retained in the merger, officials said.

“Drake, Swan & Crocker is a great firm with a long tradition of serving the residents of Cape Cod,” said Peter Sparta, president and chief executive officer of Banknorth Insurance Group. “They will be a valuable addition to our team.”

“Becoming part of Banknorth Insurance Group will allow us to further expand the products and services we provide to our current customers and give us the capacity to better attract new customers,” said Michael Walther, vice president and chief operating officer at DS&C. Walther will become a regional vice president at Banknorth Insurance Group. His father, senior partner Peter Walther, will continue to serve the firm and its customers.

“Other than a name change and becoming part of a larger company with an expanded network of products, the day-to-day services we provide to our customers will not change. We’ll have the same offices, same staff, and same dedication to customer service,” Walther said.

Drake, Swan and Crocker can trace its history on the Cape back to 1854, when Ensign Joseph Rogers founded the original firm. The current agency was created in 1982 after a number of mergers.

Banknorth Insurance Group, a subsidiary of Banknorth Group (NYSE: BNK) in Portland, Maine, is the largest insurance group in New England and the 44th largest in the country, with offices throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The company has more than 400 employees, serving commercial and consumer customers with insurance products from national and local insurance carriers.

The acquisiiton of DS&C contineus banknorth’s advance onto Cape Cod. Banknorth Group recently finalized its acquisitions of CCBT Financial Companies, Inc., the parent company of Cape Cod Bank and Trust Company, and Foxborough Savings Bank.

“The acquisition of Drake, Swan & Crocker complements our other acquisitions in the Cape Cod region, which is an important, thriving part of the state,” said William J. Ryan, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Banknorth Group.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Massachusetts

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