Columbia Financial tracks best day in a year after deal to buy RSI Bank

Columbia Financial

02/12/2021 15:50

** Shares of Columbia Financial  CLBK.O , the holding
company for Columbia Bank, gain 5% Thursday to $19.17 - tracking
its best day in nearly a year
    ** Late on Wednesday co said it was buying RSI Bank, a New
Jersey-based community bank; deal expected to close in Q2 2022
    ** RSI Bank had $620 mln in assets, $363 mln in loans, $510
mln in deposits, as of Sept. 30  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNXn77Z8 
    ** Further, RSI Bank is funding a new charitable foundation
for $5 mln to support communities served by RSI in connection
with the transaction
    ** CLBK has a market cap of nearly $2 bln, per Refinitiv
data
    ** "While the deal is relatively small for Columbia (1/15th
their size) and similar to other deals it has done in recent
years, it could set the stage for a second-step conversion in
the not too distant future", says Piper Sandler, raising CLBK to
"overweight" from "neutral"
    ** This transaction will push CLBK over $10 bln in assets,
adds Piper
    ** YTD, shares up 23% vs S&P 500's  .SPX  21% gain

 (Reporting by Anisha Sircar in Bengaluru)
 ((Anisha.Sircar@thomsonreuters.com;))