Fulton Financial Corp. will acquire Blue Foundry Bancorp in an all-stock transaction valued at $243 million, the companies announced Monday.
The transaction, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, pushes Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Fulton into northern New Jersey.
The bank gained a presence in the southern part of the state last year with its acquisition of Republic First. The Philadelphia-based bank had locations in New Jersey and New York before it failed.
Acquiring $2.15 billion-asset Blue Foundry, headquartered in Rutherford, New Jersey, gives $32 billion-asset Fulton 21 additional branches in eight counties, including four of the state’s most populous.
“The expansion in northern New Jersey aligns with our strategy of growing in our local markets and positions us well to drive organic growth across our commercial, consumer, wealth advisory and mortgage businesses,” Fulton CEO Curtis Myers said in a prepared statement.
“The combination of our companies creates an opportunity to leverage Fulton’s robust banking services and provide greater convenience and innovative solutions to an expanded customer base, with a continued focus on supporting our local communities,” he said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Blue Foundry investors will receive 0.65 shares of Fulton common stock for each share they own. The transaction’s estimated $243 million value stems from Fulton’s $17.96 share price from Friday.
“Joining forces with Fulton is an exciting step forward for our employees, customers and communities,” Blue Foundry CEO James Nesci said in a prepared statement. “This partnership allows us to preserve the local relationships and personalized service our customers value, while gaining access to greater resources and providing more solutions and convenience to customers.”
In recent years, Blue Foundry has been a publicly traded bank, during which time it has reported more than $20 million in losses, American Banker reported. Activist investor Larry Seidman, who had pushed for its sale via proxy campaign last year, told American Banker there was “no question whatsoever” that Fulton would be able to produce better results than Blue Foundry has with its assets.
“It’s a good bank with good management,” Seidman said of Fulton. “Blue Foundry was horrible. They couldn’t make any money.”
The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to tangible book value per share. It’s expected to be accretive to first full-year earnings by over 5%, and neutral to regulatory capital ratios at close.
As part of the deal, Fulton will make a $1.5 million donation to the Fulton Forward Foundation, which provides impact grants to nonprofit community organizations in New Jersey.
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