The Law Firm of Weiss & Lurie Investigates Beacon Federal Bancorp, Inc.

Weiss & Lurie, a national class action and shareholder rights law firm with offices in New York City and Los Angeles, is investigating possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the Board of Directors of Beacon Federal Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:BFED) arising from its agreement for Beacon to be acquired by Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:BHLB) in a stock-for-stock transaction.

Under the merger agreement, shareholders will have the right to elect to receive either 0.92 shares of Berkshire stock or $20.50 in cash per Beacon share, subject to proration procedures to maintain an overall 50/50 mix of stock and cash consideration. The transaction is valued at $20.35 per Beacon share based on Berkshire’s May 30, 2012 closing price. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Weiss & Lurie is investigating whether Beacon’s Board acted in the best interests of shareholders in approving this deal. Beacon was recently ranked by SNL Financial at number 26 out of the 100 largest public thrifts for performance in 2011. As part of the deal, insiders have secured special benefits for themselves – for example, upon consummation of the deal, a member of Beacon’s board will join Berkshire’s board.

If you own Beacon shares and would like more information about your rights as a shareholder or additional information concerning our investigation, please contact Julia J. Sun, Esq. either by telephone at [phone] or by email at [e-mail].

Weiss & Lurie has litigated hundreds of stockholder class and derivative actions for violations of corporate and fiduciary duties. We have recovered over a billion dollars for defrauded institutions and individuals and obtained important corporate governance in these cases. If you have information or would like legal advice concerning possible corporate wrongdoing, consumer fraud, or anti-trust violations, please email us at [e-mail] or fill out the form on our website, http://www.weisslurie.com/contact/report_fraud/.

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