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V O L . X X I I I N O. V I I I A P R I L 1 7 , 2 0 1 7 26 "W e're fearless and we're not superstitious," Curtis C. Simard says of the deal he closed for Bar Harbor Bank & Trust on Friday the 13 th . Simard, Bar Harbor's president and CEO, was referring to the acquisition of Newport, N.H.-based Lake Sunapee Bank Group in an all-stock deal valued at around $143 million. e purchase, completed in January, takes the Mount Desert Island-based buyer across state lines into Vermont and New Hampshire and more than doubled its assets to around $3.3 billion. While the double-whammy move was a fi rst for a Maine-based bank, it was exactly the type of opportunity Simard had been shooting for since Day One. "We're a Downeast-headquartered bank, sort of locked in the upper right hand corner of the state," he says. "We love it there but how much growth can we continue to get? … We knew we were going to have to grow, and mainebiz.biz/OTRBoothbay / 207.761.8379 x341 R E G I S T E R T O DAY 2 0 1 7 R E A D E R S ' C H O I C E W I N N E R BOOTHBAY May 18 | 5–7pm | Newagen Seaside Inn, Southport FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #OTRBoothbay17 PR ES ENTI NG S PONS OR AT TENDANCE IS FREE BUT SPACE IS LIMITED! Please be sure to register ahead. Let Mainebiz help you build your professional network! Join us as we make our third stop at the On the Road event series in Boothbay. This free event is a great forum to put a face with a name as well as make new business connections. Free admission Cash bar Complimentary hors d'oeuvres R EGI ONAL S PONS OR S National Bank P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Maine banks ride merger wave Two of Maine's largest banks are expanding by acquisition B y R e n e e C o r d e s F O C U S Bar Harbor Bankshares, which owns Bar Harbor Bank & Trust and Lake Sunapee Bank, is in all three northern New England states. Pictured is Curtis C. Simard, president and CEO.

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