NY Community Bancorp to acquire PennFed Financial Services

Long Island Business News, Nov 3, 2006 by David Reich-Hale

New York Community Bancorp is at it again.

The Westbury-based savings and loan, which bought Long Island Financial Corp. last year and Atlantic Bank earlier in 2006, said Thursday night it has agreed to acquire PennFed Financial Services for about $260 million in stock.

The deal gives NYCB a stronger presence in New Jersey, where PennFed is based. The West Orange, N.J.-based bank, which has $2.3 billion in assets, has 24 branches and $1.5 billion in deposits.

The deal is expected to be completed on or about March 31, 2007, pending the approval of PennFed's shareholders and the approval of state and federal regulatory agencies.

Joseph Ficalora, chief executive at NYCB, cited PennFed's mix of deposits and a $1.7 billion loan portfolio as a big reason why his thrift agreed to make the purchase.

"With the addition of PennFed's branches, we will substantially strengthen our market in Essex, Union, and Hudson counties, while establishing a presence in the central and southern part of the state," Ficalora said in a press release. "The acquisition of PennFed is consistent with the five merger transactions we've completed since November 2000, and is a very good example of our growth-through-acquisition strategy."

On Long Island, NYCB (NYSE: NYB) operates under the Roslyn Savings Bank name.

The company's shares closed Thursday at $15.96.