Westbury-based New York Community Bancorp Inc. and the Lake Success-based Astoria Financial Corp. called off their proposed merger on Tuesday.
In a statement released by New York Community Bancorp, the company said “their boards of directors have mutually agreed not to extend the companies’ definitive merger agreement, and to terminate the agreement effective January 1, 2017.”
New York Community Bancorp, in a statement on Nov. 9, said based on discussions with regulators, it did not expect to receive the approvals required to consummate the proposed merger by the end of 2016.
Both companies could terminate the agreement without any penalty if the merger didn’t happen by Dec. 31, the release said.
Both Astoria Financial, the parent company of Astoria Bank, and New York Community Bancorp Inc., the parent company of New York Community Bank and New York Commercial Bank, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment beyond the statement.
Shareholders from both banks approved the deal in October 2015. It would have merged 241 bank branches in the New York area into one company, with 202 of the branches in Nassau County, Suffolk County, Queens and Brooklyn, according to a news release about the merger.
New York Community Bancorp holds assets worth $49.5 billion, while Astoria Financial holds assets worth $14.8 billion, according to a New York Community news release.
According to the release, stockholders were to receive one share of New York Community’s common stock and 50 cents in cash for each share of Astoria Financial’s stock held at the merger date.
New York Community Bank is the largest thrift in the nation and one of the leading thrift depositories in most of the markets it serves, according to its website.
In New York, the company operate 124 branches through four local divisions that reflect the growth of the company through a series of mergers with other local thrifts: Queens County Savings Bank, with 38 branches in Queens County; Richmond County Savings Bank, with 22 banking offices on Staten Island; Roosevelt Savings Bank, with nine branches in Brooklyn; and its largest division, Roslyn Savings Bank, with 51 locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.
Astoria Bank is the second largest thrift depository in New York, according to its website.
