Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) and Brookline Bancorp (NASDAQ:BRKL) are in merger talks, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.  The Journal reported that a deal between the Boston-based regional banking companies that each have $12B in assets could be announced as soon as next week,

“Boston-based regional bank companies Berkshire Hills Bancorp and Brookline Bancorp are in talks to combine, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal would merge the two banks, which each have about $12 billion in assets, and could be announced as soon as next week, assuming talks don’t fall apart,” reports the WSJ.

Boston-based banks Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. and Brookline Bancorp Inc. are in discussions to combine, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Each bank has about $12 billion in assets and a deal could be finalized as soon as next week.