On March 7, Valley National Bancorp announced it received all regulatory approvals in connection with its acquisition of the U.S. subsidiary of Bank Leumi Le-Israel B.M. and parent company of Bank Leumi USA.
The deal, valued at more than $1.1 billion, was announced in September 2021. Valley said it anticipates the merger will close on April, 1, subject to customary closing conditions.
Valley — whose principal subsidiary is Valley National Bank — received regulatory approval for the deal from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in January 2022. Additional approvals, including by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Bank of Israel, were recently received, the bank said. And, its shareholders approved the issuance of Valley stock in connection with the merger on Jan. 13.
Valley closed out 2021 with the completion of its acquisition of The Westchester Bank Holding Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary The Westchester Bank. According to Valley’s 2021 Fourth Quarter results, the total consideration for the acquisition was $211.1 million.
Robbins
“Valley’s strong fourth quarter 2021 core results demonstrate the significant earnings power of our evolving franchise. In 2021, we generated net income of approximately $474 million, which represents a 21% increase from the prior year,” CEO Ira Robbins said in a statement released with the quarterly earnings. “We continue to build out low-cost funding channels in support of our strong and diverse organic loan production which was robust throughout the year. These efforts resulted in strong net interest margin performance and an adjusted efficiency ratio below 49% for the second consecutive year.”
As of Dec. 31, 2021, the most recent available information, Valley National Bank had total assets of approximately $43 billion. The financial institution has 131 branches in New Jersey, along with a presence in Alabama, Florida and New York.
Last week, it was announced the bank will move its headquarters to Morristown to a development from SJP Properties, in partnership with Scotto Properties, that will transform vacant properties along Speedwell Avenue and bring nearly 600 employees to the city.
