Connecticut officially has a new bank, or at least an existing one with a new name and owner: First Niagara Financial Group cleared its last regulatory hurdles Wednesday for its $1.5 billion merger with New Haven’s NewAlliance Bancshares Inc.
With its final state and federal clearances in hand, First Niagara, based in Buffalo, N.Y., will close the deal April 15 — a Friday — and three days later, a Monday, all of its NewAlliance branches will reopen bearing the First Niagara brand, CEO John R. Koelmel said.
The Connecticut Department of Banking and the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency formally blessed the combination that will create a financial institution with more than $30 billion in assets, $18 billion in deposits and 340 branches across Connecticut, Massachusetts, upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
The Federal Reserve Board approved the deal a week ago.
Earlier in the day, First Niagara issued a preliminary tally showing a majority of NewAlliance shareholders chose First Niagara common stock as payment for the merger.
Holders of nearly 81 percent of NewAlliance’s common stock, or 85 million shares, voted to receive First Niagara common stock when the deal is completed.
Those shareholders will receive 1.1 shares of First Niagara stock for each share of NewAlliance stock, or a total of 94 million shares.
Meanwhile, the holders of 8.4 million shares of NewAlliance stock, or 8 percent of the total shares outstanding, chose cash. The total payout would be about $120 million, or $14.28 per share.
The remaining holders of about 11.6 million shares didn’t vote or express a preference and will get a 54 percent-46 percent split payment of stock and cash.
