EASTHAMPTON — The Easthampton-based parent company of bankESB is getting bigger, acquiring New Hampshire-based Primary Bank in a deal that expands its footprint into a third state.

The acquisition comes just months after bankESB announced a name change to TruNorth Bank that involved a three-bank merger.

Matthew Sosik, president and CEO of the parent company, Hometown Financial Group Inc., a $6.9 billion holding company headquartered at 36 Main St. in Easthampton, said the new acquisition into New Hampshire is “imperative” for the company’s long-term success. The total transaction value is approximately $160 million.

“Our quest is to be here for our communities for a very long time,” Sosik, who is also the president and CEO of bankESB, said in an interview with the Gazette. “The path that we have devised is to gain scale. It’s a low-margin business and growth is imperative for us to ensure our long-term success.”

Hometown announced earlier this month that the merger with Primary Bank, which is valued at $743 million, has been agreed upon by each company’s board of directors. Once complete, Hometown will acquire all four Primary Bank locations, expanding its network to a total of 59 branches across New England. Sosik said southern New Hampshire, where Primary is headquartered, is a prime market to enter.

The transaction marks Hometown Financial Group’s ninth merger in the last 10 years.

“We’re really excited about entering and expanding into a growing economy,” Sosik said. “Primary [Bank] itself is a very successful company. They’ve built a very successful base.”

A conversion plan is in place as part of the agreement that will reorganize Hometown from a mutual holding company to a stock holding company. Eligible account holders under Hometown’s network as of June 30 will have first priority for shares of common stock of the company.

Additionally, current Primary Bank shareholders will receive, for each share of common stock, either $33 in cash or $31 in shares of stock issued by Hometown Financial Group Inc. The conversion and the merger are expected to be completed concurrently in the first quarter of 2027.

As part of the conversion, Hometown will establish a new charitable foundation, which will be funded with a number of shares equal to 4% of the shares sold in the stock offering.

“We are so pleased to be joining Hometown Financial Group and TruNorth Bank and are truly excited about what’s ahead for our employees, customers and communities in the Granite State,” Primary Bank Chairman William Greiner said in a statement.

Greiner added that Primary’s board of directors “knew that this day would come,” but is confident that Hometown shares the same vision, mission and culture.

The acquisition comes on the heels of Hometown announcing in May a merger of the three banks it oversees — bankESB, TruNorth Bank of Peabody and bankHometown of Oxford — all of which will be named TruNorth Bank. That merger is still pending with the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks, but Sosik said there is no reason that it would be denied, and it is planned for Aug. 21.

Sosik previously described the three-bank merger as “procedural and administrative,” noting that while the name is changing, the bankESB’s familiar logo marked by green lettering with a tree sprouting upward will stay the same. bankESB has 11 locations in western Massachusetts, including Easthampton, Northampton and Amherst.

Sosik said the two actions are not associated, but it does make the expansion into New Hampshire easier, as TruNorth will have “one recognizable name” across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

“We’ve had a great reception,” Sosik said about the merger. “People have understood our mission: To be here a long time. They appreciate that and there are hard decisions in that process.”