Filed by Valley National Bancorp
pursuant to Rule 425 under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and deemed filed pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
Subject Company: The Westchester Bank Holding Corporation
Commission File Number: 001-11277
The following key points are meant to be a guide as you have conversations with your internal team, customers, business partners and people in the community about The Westchester Banks merger with Valley Bank.
If you are asked something that is not addressed in this document, and you are unsure of how to answer, please let the person know that you will find out more information and get back to them. Then ask your manager for the appropriate information or for advice on how best to answer the question.
If you are contacted by a member of the media, please refer them to John Tolomer at 914.282.0858 or jtolomer@twbusa.com.
KEY POINTS
| The Westchester Bank has executed a merger agreement where it agreed to be acquired by Valley Bank, a regional bank headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey with approximately $42 billion in assets. |
| Valley Bank was first founded in 1927. Its NASDAQ trading symbol is VLY. |
| Valley is a regional bank with more than 200 locations in northern and central New Jersey, the New York City area, throughout Florida and Alabama. |
| Valley offers a wide array of innovative financial solutions, including residential mortgages, credit cards, insurance and wealth management services and a full suite of commercial lending services ranging from C&I loans to a robust line of treasury solutions to equipment financing and much more. |
| Joining Valley will give your customers access to: more than 200 banking locations throughout New York, New Jersey, Florida and Alabama; enhanced digital banking solutions and services; and a larger balance sheet that allows us to grow together as one of the premier regional banks in the country. |
| Customers will still receive the same great service from the same familiar faces theyve become accustomed to. Once conversion is complete, youll be able to offer a wider set of innovative consumer and business banking solutions to all your clients. |
| There will be no immediate changes to your banking experience and the closing is expected to take place within the fourth quarter of 2021. |
| As we move closer to an official closing and conversion we will continue to update all TWB associates and customers about our progress and all the great changes that are coming as a result of this merger. |
Important Information and Where to Find It
This presentation does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval with respect to the proposed acquisition by Valley National Bancorp (Valley) of The Westchester Bank Holding Corporation (Westchester). No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and no offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy shall be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
In connection with the proposed transaction, Valley will file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that will include a proxy statement of Westchester and a prospectus of Valley (the Proxy Statement/Prospectus), and Valley may file with the SEC other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction. The definitive Proxy Statement/Prospectus will be mailed to stockholders of Westchester. STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BY VALLEY, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT VALLEY, WESTCHESTER AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Free copies of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about Valley, may be obtained at the SECs website (http://www.sec.gov) when they are filed by Valley. You will also be able to obtain these documents, when they are filed, free of charge, from Valley at www.valley.com under the heading Investor Relations. Copies of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus can also be obtained, when it becomes available, free of charge, at Valleys website at http://ir.valleynationalbank.com or by directing a request to Ronald H. Janis, Senior Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Valley National Bancorp, at 1455 Valley Road, Wayne, New Jersey 07470, telephone (973) 305-8800, or by directing a request to The Westchester Bank Holding Corporation, 12 Water Street, White Plains, New York 10601.
Participants in the Solicitation
This communication is not a solicitation of a proxy from any security holder of Valley or Westchester. However, Valley, Westchester and certain of their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Westchester in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about Valleys directors and executive officers is available in its proxy statement for its 2021 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 8, 2021, and other documents filed by Valley with the SEC. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available. Free copies of this document may be obtained as described in the preceding paragraph.
© 2021 Valley National Bank. Equal Opportunity Lender. All Rights Reserved. For Internal Use Only. Not To Be Distributed Outside The Bank.
Forward Looking Statements
This communication contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are not historical facts and include expressions about managements confidence and strategies and managements expectations about new and existing programs and products, acquisitions, relationships, opportunities, taxation, technology, market conditions and economic expectations, including the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Valleys businesses and financial results and conditions. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the impact Valley and Westchester expect the proposed merger to have on the combined entitys operations, financial condition, and financial results, and Valleys and Westchesters expectations about the ability to successfully integrate their respective businesses and the amount of cost savings and overall operational efficiencies Valley and Westchester expect to realize as a result of the proposed acquisition. These statements may be identified by such forward looking terminology as should, expect, believe, view, opportunity, allow, continues, reflects, typically, usually, or similar statements or variations of such terms Such forward looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on various assumptions (many of which are beyond the control of Valley and Westchester) and are subject to risks and uncertainties (which change over time) and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward looking statements include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the proposed acquisition does not close when expected or at all because required regulatory, stockholder or other approvals and other conditions to closing are not received or satisfied on a timely basis or at all; the delay in or failure to close for any other reason; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Valley or Westchester; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the right of one or both parties to terminate the merger agreement providing for the merger; the risk that the businesses of Valley and Westchester will not be integrated successfully; the possibility that the cost savings and any synergies or other anticipated benefits from the proposed acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; changes in the estimates of non-recurring charges; disruption from the proposed acquisition making it more difficult to maintain relationships with employees, customers or other parties with whom Valley or Westchester have business relationships; the reaction to the proposed transaction of the companies customers, employees and counterparties; uncertainty as to the extent of the duration, scope, and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Valley, Westchester and the proposed transaction; the continued impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. and global economies, including business disruptions, reductions in employment and an increase in business failures, specifically among Valleys clients; the continued impact of COVID-19 on Valleys employees and Valleys ability to provide services to Valleys customers and respond to their needs as more cases of COVID-19 may arise in Valleys primary markets; potential judgments, claims, damages, penalties, fines and reputational damage resulting from pending or future litigation and regulatory and government actions, including as a result of Valleys participation in and execution of government programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic or as a result of Valleys actions in response to, or failure to implement or effectively implement, federal, state and local laws, rules or executive orders requiring that Valley grants forbearances or not act to collect
Valleys loans; the impact of forbearances or deferrals Valley is required or agree to as a result of customer requests and/or government actions, including, but not limited to Valleys potential inability to recover fully deferred payments from the borrower or the collateral; the risks related to the discontinuation of the London Interbank Offered Rate and other reference rates, including increased expenses and litigation and the effectiveness of hedging strategies; damage verdicts or settlements or restrictions related to existing or potential class action litigation or individual litigation arising from claims of violations of laws or regulations, contractual claims, breach of fiduciary responsibility, negligence, fraud, environmental laws, patent or trademark infringement, employment related claims, and other matters; a prolonged downturn in the economy, mainly in New Jersey, New York, Florida and Alabama, as well as an unexpected decline in commercial real estate values within Valleys market areas; higher or lower than expected income tax expense or tax rates, including increases or decreases resulting from changes in uncertain tax position liabilities, tax laws, regulations and case law; the inability to grow customer deposits to keep pace with loan growth; a material change in Valleys allowance for credit losses under CECL due to forecasted economic conditions and/or unexpected credit deterioration in Valleys loan and investment portfolios; the need to supplement debt or equity capital to maintain or exceed internal capital thresholds; greater than expected technology related costs due to, among other factors, prolonged or failed implementations, additional project staffing and obsolescence caused by continuous and rapid market innovations; the loss of or decrease in lower cost funding sources within Valleys deposit base, including Valleys inability to achieve deposit retention targets under Valleys branch transformation strategy; cyber attacks, computer viruses or other malware that may breach the security of Valleys websites or other systems to obtain unauthorized access to confidential information, destroy data, disable or degrade service, or sabotage Valleys systems; results of examinations by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and other regulatory authorities, including the possibility that any such regulatory authority may, among other things, require us to increase Valleys allowance for credit losses, write down assets, reimburse customers, change the way Valley does business, or limit or eliminate certain other banking activities; our inability or determination not to pay dividends at current levels, or at all, because of inadequate earnings, regulatory restrictions or limitations, changes in Valleys capital requirements or a decision to increase capital by retaining more earnings; unanticipated loan delinquencies, loss of collateral, decreased service revenues, and other potential negative effects on Valleys business caused by severe weather, the COVID-19 pandemic or other external events; unexpected significant declines in the loan portfolio due to the lack of economic expansion, increased competition, large prepayments, changes in regulatory lending guidance or other factors; and the failure of other financial institutions with whom Valley has trading, clearing, counterparty and other financial relationships; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of us and Westchester. A detailed discussion of factors that could affect Valleys results is included in Valleys SEC filings, including the Risk Factors section of Valleys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and any updates to those risk factors set forth in Valleys Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings, which have been filed by Valley with the SEC and are available on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on
which they are made. Valley and Westchester undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in our expectations, except as specifically required by law.