PennFed Financial Services Gets Shareholder Approval To Be Acquired By New York Community Bancorp.

The acquisition of PennFed Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:PFSB) (“PennFed”) by New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYB) was approved today at a special meeting of PennFed’s shareholders, paving the way for the acquisition to take effect on or about March 31st. Upon completion, PennFed will merge with and into New York Community Bancorp and Penn Federal Savings Bank, the primary subsidiary of PennFed, will merge with and into New York Community Bancorp’s savings bank subsidiary, New York Community Bank.


The acquisition was previously approved by the Superintendent of the New York State Banking Department, and the merger of Penn Federal Savings Bank with and into New York Community Bank was previously approved by the FDIC.

Under the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, PennFed shareholders will receive 1.222 shares of New York Community Bancorp stock for each share of PennFed stock held at the effective date of the merger, and cash in lieu of any fractional share. Following the merger, New York Community Bancorp will have approximately 314 million outstanding shares of common stock.

Commenting on the receipt of shareholder approval, New York Community Bancorp Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Joseph R. Ficalora stated, “We are grateful for the significant level of support the transaction received today from PennFed’s shareholders, and look forward to serving them as shareholders of our company. With the addition of PennFed’s 24 branches, we will have 187 locations spanning the New York metropolitan region --including 32 in New Jersey -- and the opportunity to increase our revenues while serving our growing customer base.”

Joseph L. LaMonica, President and Chief Executive Officer of PennFed stated, “All the support received from our shareholders since our initial public offering in July 1994 has been very much appreciated. We believe this merger maximizes shareholder value and goes further to provide benefits to our customers. Partnering with New York Community Bancorp, a company that shares our community-oriented focus, allows our customers access to an expanded line of products and services.”