McNamara to Head Peoples; Ott Appointed Chief Banking Officer of Holding Company

PORTLAND, Maine -- Peoples Heritage Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PHBK), the holding company of Peoples Heritage Bank and several other New England banking subsidiaries, made two top management announcements Monday.

Michael W. McNamara will become President and Chief Executive Officer of Peoples Heritage Bank. Mr. McNamara has served as Maine District President of Key Bank, NA since 1995. He will join Peoples Heritage in June.

David J. Ott, who has served as president of Peoples Heritage Bank since early 1999, has been appointed Chief Banking Officer at the holding company. In the new post, he will direct the activities of the company's subsidiary banks, which span from Maine to Connecticut.

"I am extremely pleased to have a banker of Mike McNamara's experience and ability join our company," said William J. Ryan, the holding company's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We will be an even stronger bank in Maine, our oldest market, where we already enjoy the leading market share.

"We gain the double advantage of having Dave Ott become Chief Banking Officer as we move to a new stage of growth with the completion of the Banknorth acquisition. Our banking affiliates will encompass most of New England and move us into upstate New York and we need a seasoned senior manager to whom the presidents of those banking affiliates will report."

Mr. McNamara has 30 years of banking experience. Prior to joining Key Bank in 1991, he held managerial positions at Fleet Financial Group and The Merrill Bankshares Company. His responsibilities have encompassed such diverse areas as branch management and administration, commercial and municipal lending and retail banking. Mr. McNamara is a graduate of the University of Maine, and a resident of Cape Elizabeth.

Mr. Ott is a former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fleet Bank of Maine with 25 years experience in banking. A Maine native, he is a 1974 graduate of Bowdoin College with a double major in math and economics, and earned an MBA from Boston College in 1976. Before joining Peoples, Mr. Ott served as president, chairman and CEO of Fleet of Maine and spent the earlier part of his banking career in Providence, R.I. He also served as president of Maine Rubber, a tire manufacturer, in the mid 1990s. He is a resident of Cumberland.

On May 10, Peoples Heritage Financial Group will complete its acquisition of Banknorth Group, Inc. At that time the company will have approximately $18.5 billion in assets and operate banking affiliates in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, upstate New York, and northern Connecticut in addition to its Maine bank. It will be the third largest banking company in New England.

Even though Peoples Heritage is the surviving entity and will maintain its corporate headquarters in Portland, Maine, the company is assuming the Banknorth holding company name and trading symbol (BKNG). Peoples Heritage Bank will remain the name of its Maine bank.

The company's other banking affiliates following the merger will be: Bank of New Hampshire NA (including Farmington National Bank), First Massachusetts Bank NA (including the current Family/SIS Bank), GBT in Connecticut (the former Glastonbury Bank & Trust), a division of First Massachusetts Bank, Evergreen Bank NA in New York, Howard Bank NA (in combination with the former Granite Savings Bank & Trust Co.), Franklin Lamoille Bank NA and First Vermont Bank & Trust Co. NA in Vermont, and Stratevest NA, a specialty bank which will handle the combined company's trust operations.

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