HarborOne in Mass. plans second-step conversion

HarborOne Bancorp in Brockton, Mass., plans to become a fully stock-owned company.

The $3.7 billion-asset mutual said in a press release Tuesday that it will pursue a second-step conversion. Shares of the mutual holding company will be canceled, and stock in a new company, which will also be called HarborOne Bancorp, will be sold to shareholders.

HarborOne depositors and former depositors of Coastway Community Bank, which the bank recently acquired, with qualifying deposits as of Feb. 28, will have first priority to buy the new stock.

HarborOne did not provide a timeline for the conversion. It said the number and price of shares to be sold in the offering, and the exchange ratio for current shareholders, will be based on an independent appraisal.

The move is the latest transition for HarborOne, which opened in 1979 as Brockton Credit Union. It become a cooperative bank in 2013.