SHORT HILLS, N.J., Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Investors Bancorp,Inc. (Nasdaq: ISBC), the holding company for Investors Savings Bank, andSummit Federal Bankshares, Inc., the federally-chartered holding companyfor Summit Federal Savings Bank, today jointly announced the signing of adefinitive merger agreement. Summit Federal Bankshares is the wholly ownedsubsidiary of Summit Federal Bankshares, MHC (Summit MHC), a federallychartered mutual holding company. As of June 30, 2007, Summit Federaloperates five branches in Union, Middlesex and Warren counties, New Jersey,and had assets of $120 million, deposits of $103.2 million and equity of$16.2 million. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Summit MHC will merge intoInvestors Bancorp, MHC (Investors MHC), with Investors MHC surviving, to befollowed by the merger of Summit Federal Bankshares into Investors Bancorp,with Investors Bancorp surviving, and the merger of Summit Federal SavingsBank into Investors Savings Bank, with Investors Savings Bank surviving.Depositors of Summit Federal will become depositors of Investors SavingsBank, and will have the same rights and privileges in Investors MHC as iftheir accounts had been established in Investors Savings Bank on the dateestablished at Summit Federal. The merger agreement and the related mergertransactions are subject to the approval of Summit Federal depositors,regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions. Based on regulatory precedent, Investors Bancorp may issue additionalshares of common stock to Investors MHC, based on a pro forma marketvaluation of Summit Federal. These shares may be issued either uponcompletion of the transaction (based on regulatory precedent), or upon asecond step conversion of Investors MHC. Although Investors Bancorpbelieves that the merger should be accounted for as a pooling of interestof mutual enterprises, it understands that purchase accounting was appliedin a previous transaction. These issues will be explored further inconnection with the regulatory application process. Each Summit Federal branch office will become a branch office ofInvestors Savings Bank, and all Summit Federal employees will becomeemployees of Investors Savings Bank. Richard Petroski, Chairman of theBoard of Summit Federal and its holding companies, will be appointed to theboard of directors of Investors Savings Bank and its holding companies.William V. Cosgrove, the President and Chief Executive Officer of SummitFederal, will become a Senior Vice President of Investors Savings Bank. Robert M. Cashill, President and Chief Executive Officer of InvestorsSavings Bank, stated that, "We are very pleased to enter into this businesscombination. The Summit Federal branch network compliments our existinggeographic footprint extremely well. Summit Federal's customers can lookforward to an enhanced array of products and services delivered with thesame high level of service Summit Federal consistently provides. We alsolook forward to partnering with the Summit Federal employees." Mr. Cosgrove commented, "We are very pleased to be merging withInvestors Savings Bank and its holding companies. Investors is awell-managed, community-oriented institution which, much like SummitFederal, distinguishes itself with its focus on customer service. Thebreadth of Investors' product offerings will allow us to maintain, expandand enhance services and products for our customers. The branch network ofthe combined institutions will be an added attraction." About Investors Bancorp, Inc. Investors Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Investors SavingsBank, which operates from its corporate headquarters in Short Hills, NewJersey, and 46 branch offices located in Essex, Hunterdon, Middlesex,Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Somerset and Union Counties, New Jersey. For moreinformation, please visit the Company's website at http://www.isbnj.com. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein are "forward looking statements"within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward looking statementsmay be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the useof forward looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect,""estimate," "anticipate," "continue," or similar terms or variations onthose terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward looking statements aresubject to numerous risks, as described in our SEC filings, anduncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to bankregulatory policies pertaining to transactions involving combinationsbetween mutual institutions and institutions that are partly publicly ownedthrough the mutual holding company structure, which policies are vague andsubject to transaction by transaction application and development and whichcould result in delays in obtaining (or the failure to obtain) regulatoryapproval of the proposed merger between Investors Savings and SummitFederal and/or changes in the structure or terms of the proposed mergers. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance onany such forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.The Company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above couldaffect whether the proposed business combination between Investors Bancorpand Summit Federal Bankshares occurs and if it occurs, the proposedstructure and terms of the proposed business combination. The Company doesnot undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly releasethe results of any revision which may be made to any forward lookingstatements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of suchstatements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipatedevents.
