Provident New York Bancorp (NYSE: PBNY) and Sterling Bancorp (STL +0.00%) jointly announced today that they had received all the necessary regulatory approvals for their planned merger that was originally announced on April 4. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the New York State Department of Financial Services have all signed off on merger.
Assuming the satisfactory completion of the remaining terms of the agreement, the banks will take the name Sterling Bancorp, while Provident Bank will be converted to a national bank charter under the Sterling National Bank name.
The merger agreement is a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $344 million. Sterling Bancorp shareholders will receive a fixed ratio of 1.2625 shares of Provident stock for each share of Sterling stock they own. Provident shareholders will own approximately 53% of stock in the combined company, while Sterling shareholders will own approximately 47%. The combined companies had annualized pro forma revenue for 2012 of $257 million and $41 million in net income, and upon completion of the merger will have nearly $7 billion in assets.
When the merger was originally announced, Provident New York Bancorp President and CEO Jack L. Kopnisky said: "This merger is a tremendous opportunity for Provident and a significant step in our strategy to expand within the greater New York metropolitan area. It provides greater diversity of product sets, clients, and revenue streams while presenting considerable potential to build our small- to middle-market and consumer client bases."
The merger is expected to be completed after the close of business on Oct. 31.
