Deal propels Virginia’s Burke & Herbert into Pennsylvania

• Key insight: Burke & Herbert in Alexandria, Virginia, would gain its first exposure to Pennsylvania’s banking market with a $354 million stock deal for Linkbancorp in Camp Hill. 
• Expert quote: The transaction “appears to be sound and helps provide geographic diversification to Burke & Herbert’s footprint,” Janney Montgomery Scott Analyst Daniel Cardenas wrote Friday in a research note. 
• Supporting data: Burke & Herbert says its previous deal, a merger with Summit Financial Group in Moorefield, West Virginia, exceeded expectations for cost savings, capital generation and return on average assets.

A Virginia bank that waited more than 170 years to make its first acquisition has just announced its second. 

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The $7.9 billion-asset Burke & Herbert Financial Services Corp. in Alexandria disclosed late Thursday that it has agreed to buy Linkbancorp of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, for $354.2 million in stock. The deal would move Burke & Herbert into Pennsylvania. It also continues the regional bank transformation that started in 2023, when the 173-year-old company, Virginia’s oldest bank, announced a merger-of-equals with Summit Financial Group in Moorefield, West Virginia.

“This strategic acquisition marks another transformative milestone in Burke & Herbert’s long history,” Burke & Herbert Chairman and CEO David Boyle said in a press release. “Our entry into Pennsylvania and the expanded presence across key Mid-Atlantic markets underscores our unwavering commitment to community banking and reinforces our reputation as a trusted financial partner wherever we operate.”

The combined company would start with $11 billion in assets and $9.1 billion of deposits. Burke & Herbert is projecting cost savings equal to 37.5% of Linkbancorp’s noninterest expense base, which totaled $74.9 million in 2024 and $55.9 million through the first nine months of 2025. It’s projecting earnings-per-share accretion totaling 18% in 2027, the first full year of combined operations. 

Janney Montgomery Scott Analyst Daniel Cardenas termed the deal “transformative” in a research note Friday. Cardenas noted it expands the company’s footprint into the Pennsylvania market and is expected to be a meaningful additive to earnings-per-share in 2027. It also pushes Burke & Herbert well beyond $10 billion of assets, softening the blow from the loss of interchange income that occurs after banks exceed the Durbin-Amendment threshold. 

Burke & Herbert expects the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2026.

Boyle, who has led Burke & Herbert since 2020, has been at the center of the company’s transformation. Boyle has presided over Burke & Herbert’s entry into the Richmond, Virginia, market in 2022, its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2023 and the Summit merger, announced four months later.

Founded in 2018, the $3.1 billion-asset Linkbancorp has also resorted to merger-and-acquisition activity to spur growth. It acquired GNB Financial Services in Gratz, Pennsylvania, in 2021, and the Salisbury, Maryland-based Partners Bancorp two years later. 

Combining with the larger Burke & Herbert “accelerates our ability to deliver value for all our stakeholders,” Linkbancorp CEO Andrew Samuel said in the press release.

Linkbancorp shareholders are expected to own about 25% of the merged company. Two Linkbancorp directors are expected to join Burke & Herbert’s board. Samuel will join the board of Burke & Herbert Bank and serve as a senior advisor. Two Linkbancorp executives, Carl Lundblad and Brent Smith, are slated to join the Burke & Herbert management team. 

Dan Sondhelm, CEO of Sondhelm Partners, an Alexandria-based financial services consulting firm, called the deal “a​ ​straightforward​ ​play​ ​for​ ​scale​ ​and​ ​expanded​ ​footprint,” in an email Friday. “Burke​ ​&​ ​Herbert​ ​pushes​ ​into​ ​Pennsylvania​ ​and​ ​gets​ ​to​ ​over​ ​100​ ​locations​ ​across​ ​six​ ​states.​ ​The​ ​value​ ​is​ ​cost​ ​elimination​ ​when​ ​you​ ​combine​ ​two​ ​banks​ ​into​ ​an​ ​$11​ ​billion​ ​operation.”

The transaction “appears to be sound and helps provide geographic diversification to Burke & Herbert’s footprint,” Janney’s Cardenas wrote. 

Though Burke & Herbert doesn’t have a long track record in M&A, its one foray into the space has gone better-than-expected. The deal for Summit surpassed projections for capital generation, cost savings and return on average assets, according to the company.