Exhibit 99.6

 

June 5, 2019

Board of Trustees

Provident Bancorp

Boards of Directors

Provident Bancorp, Inc.

The Provident Bank

5 Market Street

Amesbury, Massachusetts 01913

Re: Plan of Conversion

Provident Bancorp

Provident Bancorp, Inc.

Members of the Board of Trustees and the Boards of Directors:

All capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this letter have the meanings given such terms in the Plan of Conversion (the “Plan”) adopted by the Board of Trustees of Provident Bancorp (the “MHC”) and the Board of Directors of Provident Bancorp, Inc. (the “Mid-Tier”). The Plan provides for the conversion of the MHC into the full stock form of organization. Pursuant to the Plan, the MHC will be merged into the Mid-Tier and the Mid-Tier will merge with Provident Bancorp, Inc., a newly-formed Maryland corporation (the “Company”) with the Company as the resulting entity, and the MHC will no longer exist. As part of the Plan, the Company will sell shares of common stock in an offering that will represent the ownership interest in the Mid-Tier now owned by the MHC.

We understand that in accordance with the Plan, depositors will receive rights in a liquidation account maintained by the Company representing the amount of (i) the MHC’s ownership interest in the Mid-Tier’s total stockholders’ equity as of the date of the latest statement of financial condition used in the prospectus plus (ii) the value of the net assets of the MHC as of the date of the latest statement of financial condition of the MHC prior to the consummation of the conversion (excluding its ownership of the Mid-Tier). The Company shall continue to hold the liquidation account for the benefit of Eligible Account Holders who continue to maintain deposits in The Provident Bank. The liquidation account is designed to provide payments to depositors of their liquidation interests in the event of liquidation of The Provident Bank (or the Company and The Provident Bank).

In the unlikely event that either The Provident Bank (or the Company and the Provident Bank) were to liquidate after the conversion, all claims of creditors, including those of depositors, would be paid first, followed by distribution to depositors as of May 31, 2018. Also, in a complete liquidation of both entities, or of The Provident Bank, when the Company has insufficient assets (other than the stock of The Provident Bank), to fund the liquidation account distribution due to Eligible Account Holders and The Provident Bank has positive net worth, The Provident Bank shall immediately make a distribution to fund the Company’s remaining obligations under the liquidation account. The Plan further provides that if the Company is completely liquidated or sold apart from a sale or liquidation of The Provident Bank, then the rights of Eligible Account Holders in the liquidation account maintained by the Company shall be surrendered and treated as a liquidation account in The Provident Bank, the bank liquidation account and depositors shall have an equivalent interest in such bank liquidation account, subject to the same rights and terms as the liquidation account.

Washington Headquarters
4250 North Fairfax Drive	Telephone:  (703) 528-1700
Suite 600	Fax No.:  (703) 528-1788
Arlington, VA  22201	Toll-Free No.:  (866) 723-0594
www.rpfinancial.com	E-Mail:  mail@rpfinancial.com

RP^® Financial, LC.

Board of Trustees

Boards of Directors

June 5, 2019

Page 2

Based upon our review of the Plan and our observations that the liquidation rights become payable only upon the unlikely event of the liquidation of The Provident Bank (or the Company and The Provident Bank), that liquidation rights in the Company automatically transfer to The Provident Bank in the event the Company is completely liquidated or sold apart from a sale or liquidation of The Provident Bank, and that after two years from the date of conversion and upon written request of the FRB, the Company will transfer the liquidation account and depositors’ interest in such account to The Provident Bank and the liquidation account shall thereupon become the liquidation account of The Provident Bank no longer subject to the Company’s creditors, we are of the belief that: the benefit provided by the Provident Bank liquidation account supporting the payment of the liquidation account in the event the Company lacks sufficient net assets does not have any economic value at the time of the transactions contemplated in the first and second paragraphs above. We note that we have not undertaken any independent investigation of state or federal law or the position of the Internal Revenue Service with respect to this issue.

Sincerely,

RP^® Financial, LC.