WATERBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1999--Webster Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WBST), holding company for Webster Bank, announced today that the company's board of directors has rescinded the previously announced $50 million common stock repurchase program. Continuing the program could restrict the ability to utilize the pooling of interests method of accounting for business combinations in the pending acquisition of New England Community Bancorp which is expected to close later this quarter.
Webster purchased 377,073 common shares under the buyback program. During 1999, Webster purchased an additional 2.6 million common shares in connection with the previously closed acquisitions of Village Bancorp, Maritime Bank & Trust, and Nowlending.com, formerly Access National Mortgage Inc. The previously closed acquisitions were accounted for using the purchase method of accounting for business combinations. Webster currently has 37,958,359 common shares outstanding.
Webster Financial Corporation, headquartered in Waterbury, Conn., is the holding company for Webster Bank, which was founded in 1935. Webster Bank delivers consumer, commercial, mortgage, insurance, and trust and investment management services to individuals, families and businesses through a network of 115 banking offices, three commercial banking centers, two insurance offices, and 180 ATMs, in addition to telephone banking, video banking and PC banking. Total assets at Sept. 30, 1999, were $9 billion, total deposits were $5.6 billion and total loans were $5.4 billion.
Webster Bank has the number one or number two deposit market share in its primary markets of Hartford, New Haven and Litchfield counties. Webster is also a full-service commercial lender and the second-largest mortgage lender in Connecticut.
Webster Trust, the bank's trust and investment management subsidiary, is a leading Connecticut-based trust company. Webster's insurance subsidiary, Damman Insurance Associates, is one of the largest agencies in the state. Webster's subsidiary Nowlending.com (www.nowlending.com) originates low-cost mortgages over the Internet for customers across the United States.
For more information on Webster, including past press releases and the latest Annual Report, visit the Webster Bank web site at www.websterbank.com.