an effort to acquire capital for expansion, Peoples dropped its charter as a mutual bank and rechartered into a public corporation. With its new resources the bank planned to grow its asset base from $1 billion to $4 billion within five years. This would be accomplished through acquisitions, an expanded branch network, and a rapid increase in commercial lending and real estate. In 1988, Peoples Heritage reorganized itself as a bank holding company in order to gain greater flexibility in making bank and non-bank acquisitions. Acquisitions in the period were: Northeast Leasing: 1987 Six branches from Casco Northern Bank: 1989 First Coastal Bank, Portsmouth, NH: 1989 Merchants National Bank of Dover First National Bank of Portsmouth, founded 1824 Oxford Bank & Trust Company from Bank of Vermont (As part of Bank of Boston's purchase of Bank of Vermont, regulators required it to sell the Oxford Bank & Trust component.) (5 branches - 1988). Had a $100 million personal trusts department, the first venture of Peoples into this area. Recession and crisis In 1989, the Maine real estate market collapsed. In this period of crisis, William J. Ryan became the new president and CEO. In 1990, the recession resulted in 111 bank closures or mergers in New England. Peoples’ stock began to fall as serious problems emerged with bad loans, particularly in the faltering real estate sector, but also in the commercial realm. In the period 1990 to 1992, Peoples was losing money, and federal regulators issued a cease and desist order restricting the bank's freedom in the loans area. In response, the management team was shaken up, and special teams were assigned to loans review and restructuring. The bank opened an innovative storefront retail real estate office to move foreclosed properties. Recovery began by mid-1992. The bank had aggressively reduced its portfolio of non-performing loans, and all discernible asset quality trends were positive, resulting in a favorable impact to the bottom line. In 1993, the bank again became profitable, and it re-capitalized with a rights offering in Q4 1992, generating $38 million in new capital. Recovery and expansion In 1993, the Peoples management held a retreat to plan strategy for future growth. Bill Ryan proposed a doubling of assets to $5 billion through a maximization of market share in Maine and acquisition of other community banks in the region. The plan resulted in the following acquisitions during the 1990s: Mid-Maine