Coastal Heritage Bank, wholly-owned subsidiary of South Shore Mutual Holding Company, and Equitable Bank today announced the completion of their merger.

Effective April 1, 2019, pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of January 1, 2019, Coastal Heritage Bank and Equitable Bank will merge, with Coastal Heritage Bank as the surviving bank. As a result of the merger, Coastal Heritage Bank will have combined assets of approximately $850 million and customers of both banks will have access to fifteen banking centers located in East Bridgewater, Green Harbor, Hanover, Hingham, Marshfield, Norwell, Quincy (2), Scituate, Weymouth, East Weymouth, South Weymouth, Nahant, Kingston, and Lynn, Massachusetts. The merger will not result in any job losses or branch closings.

“We are excited to begin our partnership,” said Donald P. Gill, President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined Coastal Heritage Bank. “We are confident that our combined scale, experience, and local leadership will allow us to provide greater benefits to customers and employees, while remaining a very strong regional community bank.”

“Our combined Board of Directors and executive management team are pleased to announce the completion of the merger and look forward to implementing our shared vision,” said Robert W. Terravecchia, Jr., Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of the combined Coastal Heritage Bank.

East Weymouth and Weymouth, MA; August 14, 2018 — Equitable Bancorp, MHC (“Equitable MHC”), the mutual bank holding company for Equitable Bank (“Equitable”), a $332.9 million asset community bank headquartered in East Weymouth, and South Shore Mutual Holding Company (“South Shore MHC”), the mutual bank holding company for Coastal Heritage Bank (“Coastal”), a $517.1 million-asset community bank headquartered in Weymouth, announced today they have executed a definitive merger agreement to merge their institutions.

The definitive merger agreement was unanimously approved by the directors of each institution. Under the terms of the agreement, Equitable MHC and South Shore MHC will merge under the “Equitable Bancorp, MHC” name and immediately thereafter Equitable and Coastal will merge under the “Coastal Heritage Bank” name. The merged bank will be headquartered in Weymouth. Equitable Bancorp, Inc. (“Equitable Bancorp”), the current mid-tier bank holding company of Equitable, will remain the mid-tier bank holding company of the merged bank.

Robert W. Terravecchia, Jr., Equitable’s President and Chief Executive Officer (R) with Donald P. Gill, Coastal’s President and Chief Executive Officer (L)

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“Equitable Bank and Coastal Heritage Bank proudly share a rich history of being two of the oldest surviving co- operative banks in Massachusetts,” said Donald P. Gill, Coastal’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and Robert W. Terravecchia, Jr., Equitable’s President and Chief Executive Officer, in a joint statement. “Both banks share a common culture and strong commitment to the communities we serve.”

The post-merger executive leadership and management team of Equitable MHC, Equitable Bancorp and Coastal Heritage Bank will be drawn from both Equitable Bank and Coastal Heritage Bank. Joseph C. Hayes, Coastal’s Chairman of the Board, will serve as Chairman of the Board of Equitable MHC, Equitable Bancorp and Coastal Heritage Bank. Mr. Gill will serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of each entity. Mr. Terravecchia will serve as Vice Chairman of the Board and Executive Vice President of each entity and become President and Chief Executive Officer of each entity upon Mr. Gill’s retirement on or about April 30, 2020.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals and approval by the respective corporators of Equitable MHC and South Shore MHC.

Luse Gorman, PC served as legal counsel to Equitable, and Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP served as legal counsel to Coastal.

Merger Vision Statement

To combine the resources of Coastal Heritage Bank and Equitable Bank, to create a larger and more sustainable organization that, through the prudent stewardship of our Board of Directors and vision and hard work of our employees, will have the necessary resources to effectively serve our customers and community for future generations.