OceanFirst to acquire Two River Bank and Country Bank for $285m

Banking acquisition news : OceanFirst Financial, the parent company of New Jersey-based OceanFirst Bank, has agreed to acquire Two River Bancorp and Country Bank Holding Company, in two separate transactions for a total consideration of around $285 million.

OceanFirst acquisition of Two River

OceanFirst acquisition of Two River : First, OceanFirst Financial will acquire Two River Bancorp  – the parent company of New Jersey-based Two River Community Bank for $23.14 per share or about $182.8 million.

Established in 2000, Two River is a full-service community bank, which operates 14 branch locations and two loan production offices in Monmouth, Ocean, Essex, and Union Counties.

As of 30 June 2019, Two River had $1.2 billion worth assets under management, $953.1 million in loans, $972.6 million in deposits and shareholders’ equity of $121.4 million. As per the terms of OceanFirst acquisition of Two River, shareholders of the latter will be issued 0.6663 shares of the former’s shares and $5.375 in cash for each of their shares.

OceanFirst to acquire Two River Bank and Country Bank for $285m

OceanFirst acquisition of Two River is likely to be wrapped up in Q1 2020 based on Two River’s shareholders’ approval, receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, and closing of other customary conditions.

Commenting on OceanFirst acquisition of Two River, William D. Moss – Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Two River, said: “I am excited by the prospects of uniting our company with OceanFirst, whose community banking approach and customer focus is highly consistent with the model that has made Two River successful. This combination will provide our customers with enhanced product and service offerings.

“In addition to benefits for our customers, our employees and community will benefit from our combined history of making a difference in the communities we serve, which is consistent with one of the founding principles of Two River Community Bank.”

OceanFirst acquisition of Country Bank

OceanFirst acquisition of Country Bank : As per the second agreement, Country Bank Holding Company, the parent company of New York-based Country Bank for about $102.2 million. Under the terms of OceanFirst acquisition of Country Bank, shareholders of the latter will be issued 2,000 shares of the former for each of their shares.

Established in 1988, Country Bank offers banking services to small businesses and individuals through its five branches across the metropolitan New York market. As of 30 June 2019, Country Bank had $783.4 million in assets under management, $649.7 million in deposits, $592.4 million in loans, and $67.5 million in shareholders’ equity.

Joseph M. Murphy – Country Bank Holding Company Chairman and CEO, commenting on OceanFirst acquisition of Country Bank, said: “We are very pleased about partnering with a high-performing company that shares our community banking culture and values. We find the strategic fit of the two organizations compelling, especially for our customers that will benefit from the broader array of products and services, and for our stockholders.

“We will leverage the new resources and products available to us through OceanFirst Bank and are attracted to the opportunity to operate in our current markets with a significantly larger scale.”

For OceanFirst, Piper Jaffray & Co is the financial advisor, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is the legal counsel. For Two River, its financial advisor is Boenning & Scattergood, while Stevens & Lee served as its legal counsel.

For Country Bank, its financial advisor is Sandler O’Neill & Partners, while Luse Gorman is the legal counsel.

OceanFirst acquisition of Country Bank is expected to be completed in Q1 2020 subject to the latter’s shareholders’ approval, receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other closing conditions.

OceanFirst CEO comments on the two banking mergers

Christopher D. Maher – OceanFirst Chairman and CEO said: “We are excited for both Two River and CYHC shareholders to join the OceanFirst family, as both institutions share a similar operating philosophy and this provides us an opportunity to further enhance our presence in New Jersey and build upon our lending initiatives in metropolitan New York.

“We believe the addition of these two high-performing franchises will further leverage the significant investments we have made in people, processes and technology and positively impact our earnings potential. We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with extraordinary service and deliver enhanced value to our stockholders.”

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