The Bank of Ireland, Ireland’s second biggest...

The Bank of Ireland, Ireland’s second biggest commercial bank, said it has agreed to acquire First NH Banks Inc. of New Hampshire for $370 million. The Irish bank said the acquisition fulfilled one of its major strategic objectives of expanding outside Ireland in order to achieve greater diversification in its sources of earnings. First NH is the largest and most profitable bank holding company in New Hampshire, with a net income of $23.4 million in 1987 and total net assets of almost $2.5 billion.