Valley National Bancorp, doing business asValley Bank, is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, with approximately $64 billion in assets. Its principal subsidiary, Valley National Bank (also doing business as Valley Bank), currently operates over 230 branch locations and commercial banking offices across New Jersey, New York, Florida, Alabama, California, and Illinois. Valley Bank is one of the largest commercial banks headquartered in New Jersey.
Founded in 1927 as the Passaic Park Trust Company, the bank changed its name in the mid 1930s to the Bank of Passaic and Trust Company. In 1956 the Bank of Passaic and Trust Company acquired the Bank of Allwood located in Clifton, New Jersey, and changed its name to The Bank of Passaic and Clifton. The acquisition of the Bank of Wayne in 1976 created a need for a new identity to show the expanded geographic reach of the bank, and the name Valley National Bank was chosen, in reference to the lower Passaic River valley shared by Wayne, Clifton, and Passaic.[2]
In 1983, Valley National Bancorp was formed as the holding company of Valley National Bank.
In 1989, Samuel F. Riskin[3] retired as the chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Riskin had served as the longest-tenured president of Valley National Bank, having been appointed in 1953. Under his leadership, the bank's assets grew from $40 million to $3 billion. Riskin, who died in 1992, was replaced by Gerald H. Lipkin, who served as chairman of the board of Valley National Bancorp, and who served as president and CEO of Valley National Bank until 2018.
On January 1, 2018, Ira Robbins was appointed CEO and president, the third president of the bank since 1953.[4]
Acquisitionsedit
Valley National Bancorp has grown through a series of strategic acquisitions in northern and central New Jersey, including the following:
1995: Lakeland First Financial Group, Inc. for $119.8 million (not to be confused with Lakeland Bank of Oak Ridge, New Jersey), and American Union Bank of Union Township, New Jersey, for $7 million.
The company has also expanded beyond traditional bank operation through the following acquisitions:
1994: Rock Financial Corporation for $43.5 million in stock.[19]
1999: Commonwealth All Service Title Agency, Ramapo Financial Corporation for $107.3 million, and New Century Asset Management Co.[5] Following the acquisition of Ramapo Financial, the bank moved its headquarters to Wayne, New Jersey.[20]
2000: Hallmark Capital Management, Inc
2001: Valley Commercial Capital, LLC.
2002: Masters Coverage Corp. and NIA/Lawyers Title Agency, LLC.[5]
^DANIELS, LEE A. (August 29, 1992). "Samuel Riskin, 85, Ex-Chairman And President of New Jersey Banker". The New York Times.
^"Valley National Bancorp Announces the Retirement of Gerald H. Lipkin and Appointment of Ira Robbins as CEO" (Press release). PR Newswire. November 2, 2017.
^ abcdefg"VNB Acquisitions". Valley National Bank.
^News, Bridge (19 December 1998). "Company News; Valley National Bancorp to Acquire Ramapo Financial". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
^"Valley National Bancorp and 1st United Bancorp, Inc. Announce Closing Date for the Acquisition of 1st United Bancorp, Inc" (Press release). PR Newswire. October 22, 2014.
^Bandell, Brian (May 8, 2014). "1st United, Palm Beach County's largest bank, acquired by New Jersey bank". American City Business Journals.
^"Valley National Bancorp Completes Its Merger Of CNLBancshares, Inc" (Press release). PR Newswire. December 1, 2015.
^"Valley National Bancorp Completes Its Merger of USAmeriBancorp, Inc" (Press release). PR Newswire. January 2, 2018.
^"Valley National Bancorp Announces The Completion of Its Merger With the Westchester Bank Holding Corporation". ir.valleynationalbank.com. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
^"Valley National Bancorp to Acquire Westchester Bank in $220M Deal". Real Estate in Depth. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
^ROI-NJ Staff (Wayne) (1 April 2022). "Valley National completes $1.2B acquisition of Bank Leumi USA". ROI-NJ.com. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
^"VALLEY NATIONAL BANCORP ADDING ROCK FINANCIAL". The New York Times. August 27, 1994.
^"VALLEY NATIONAL BANCORP TO ACQUIRE RAMAPO FINANCIAL". The New York Times. December 19, 1998.
^"Valley National Bancorp Acquires Dudley Ventures and its Affiliates". ir.valleynationalbank.com. Retrieved 2022-12-28.