Provident Financial Services, Lakeland Bancorp To Merge In All-stock $1.3 Bln Deal

Provident Financial Services, Inc. (PFS), the parent company of Provident Bank, and Lakeland Bancorp, Inc. (LBAI), the parent company of Lakeland Bank, announced Tuesday that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger, valued at approximately $1.3 billion.

The merger combines two complementary banking platforms to create New Jersey’s preeminent super-community bank. The combined company will have more than $25 billion in assets and $20 billion in total deposits.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Lakeland will merge with and into Provident, with Provident as the surviving corporation, and Lakeland Bank will merge with and into Provident Bank, with Provident Bank as the surviving bank.

Following the closing of the transaction, Lakeland shareholders will receive 0.8319 shares of Provident common stock for each share of Lakeland common stock they own. Upon completion of the transaction, which is subject to both Provident and Lakeland shareholder approval, Provident shareholders will own 58% and Lakeland shareholders will own 42% of the combined company.

The combined company will operate under the “Provident Financial Services, Inc.” name and the combined bank will operate under the “Provident Bank” name. The administrative headquarters of the combined company will be located in Iselin, New Jersey.

The combined company will trade under the Provident ticker symbol “PFS” on the New York Stock Exchange.

The combined company’s board of directors will have sixteen directors, consisting of nine directors from Provident and seven directors from Lakeland.

The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of customary regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of each company.

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