Buyers Valley National (N.J.), F.N.B. (Pa.) Poised to Complete Separate Deals

Two acquirers tied up some loose ends Friday as the yearend approached.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., said Friday that it will complete its acquisition of State Bancorp Inc. in Jericho, N.Y., on Jan. 1.

Meanwhile, Parkvale Financial Corp. in Monroeville, Pa., said that its merger into F.N.B. Corp. in Hermitage, Pa., also takes effect Jan. 1.

The $14.2 billion-asset Valley National will issue roughly 17 million shares of common stock in its deal. Shareholders of the $1.6 billion-asset State Bancorp will receive a fixed one-for-one exchange ratio for Valley common stock.

When the deal was announced in April, it was priced at $222 million in stock, or 1.85 times State's tangible book value.

As a result of the merger, Jeffrey S. Wilks, a State Bancorp director since 2001, was appointed to the board for Valley and its banking unit, Valley National Bank. He is a principal and executive vice president of Spiegel Associates, a private real estate ownership and development company, and a former associate director at Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP.

The 16 branches of State Bancorp's banking unit, State Bank of Long Island, were merged into Valley National Bank. Full systems integration is expected to be completed during the first quarter.

Valley National has 211 branches in New Jersey and New York.

In the other deal, each common stock of Parkvale will be converted into the right to receive roughly 2.2 shares of common stock for the $9.8 billion-asset F.N.B.

When the acquisition was announced in June, F.N.B. said it would pay $130 million in an all-stock deal priced at 1.95 times Parkvale's tangible book value.

The $1.8 billion-asset Parkvale, the parent company of Parkvale Bank, has 47 branches. After Jan. 1, F.N.B. will have more than 270 branches.