This is what demutualization gets you. Granted, Eastern Bank’s Bob Rivers is downplaying the idea that his institution is for sale amid reports that an activist shareholder, HoldCo Asset Management, is pushing for Eastern to sell itself, preferably ASAP. Maybe Rivers, the bank’s highly respected executive chairman, sincerely doesn’t want to sell now or at any time. But c’mon. The die was cast five years ago when Eastern demutualized and became a publicly traded company. Rivers, who was CEO and chair at the time, knew what that potentially meant – and now that ‘potentially’ appears increasingly ‘likely,’ with or without Rivers, who has headed Eastern since 2017. … When it comes to demutualization of banks or insurance companies, I take the old “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” position. The demutualization of Boston’s John Hancock Insurance – and its controversial sale just three years later to Manulife — taught me that hard lesson. … The BBJ and B&T have more on the Eastern/HoldCo drama.