Valley To Acquire Bluevine For ~$340M

Valley National Bancorp ("Valley") (NASDAQ:VLY) and Bluevine Inc. ("Bluevine") announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Valley will acquire Bluevine, a leading nationwide digital banking platform for small businesses.The acquisition directly aligns with Valley’s stated strategic priorities of enhancing its funding base, expanding its small business franchise, and accelerating its digital and artificial intelligence ("AI") strategy. Bluevine will bring Valley a scaled, high-growth digital small business platform; $2.1 billion of low-cost, digitally-sourced deposits which Bluevine and Valley intend to grow over time; and an established suite of integrated banking, payments, lending and financial-management solutions designed for small businesses across the country. Additionally, Bluevine’s engineering, product, data science and AI talent will help accelerate Valley’s long-term technology strategy, which includes a focus on broader development of internal capabilities and less reliance on third-party software and service providers.Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, Bluevine serves approximately 175,000 active small business customers and was voted 2026 Best Overall Small Business Bank by Money.com and 2026 Best Online Business Checking Account by NerdWallet. Bluevine has demonstrated momentum in building small business operating relationships, with platform-generated deposits increasing at an approximately 35% compound annual growth rate from 2023 through the second quarter of 2026. Approximately 99% of these deposits are currently from non-borrowing customers, which is expected to provide Valley with access to a diversified, relationship-driven source of core funding.The transaction adds a nationwide digital acquisition channel to complement Valley’s long-standing relationship-led banking model. By gaining access to Valley’s branch network and broader treasury management, credit, insurance, wealth and capital markets solutions, Bluevine customers will benefit from a more holistic value proposition as clients of the combined organization. Valley’s existing small business customers will benefit from Bluevine’s industry-leading digital platform which combines business checking, payments, bill pay, invoicing, lending and financial-management capabilities in a unified experience for small businesses.The acquisition will also accelerate Valley’s technology and AI strategy by adding approximately 180 research and development professionals and engineers, primarily located in established technology hubs like Redwood City, California; Jersey City, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Tel Aviv, Israel. Bluevine brings a highly capable engineering culture, modern technology architecture, and meaningful experience applying data and AI solutions to small business workflows. Owning these capabilities will give Valley greater control over its customer experience, more speed in bringing solutions to market, and a durable foundation for further innovation beyond Bluevine’s legacy small business focus areas.Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Valley will acquire Bluevine for total consideration of approximately $340 million. The consideration is expected to consist of approximately 75% cash and 25% Valley common stock, subject to the terms of the definitive agreement and customary adjustments. Inclusive of expected synergies, the acquisition is expected to be approximately 8% accretive to estimated 2028 earnings per share. The transaction is also expected to result in approximately 5% tangible book value dilution at closing, with an estimated earn back period of approximately 3 years.