Kearny in N.J. Withdraws Conversion Application

Kearny Financial in Fairfield, N.J., has withdrawn its application for a mutual-to-stock conversion.

The $3.5 billion-asset company, which filed paperwork for the conversion in September, said in a regulatory filing Monday that it voluntarily withdrew the application after consulting with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Kearny did not provide a reason why the Federal Reserve has not yet approved the transaction.

The company said in its filing that it plans to resubmit the application in the first quarter.

"We intend to continue with the second-step process," Craig Montanaro, Kearny's president and chief executive, said in a press release included with the filing. He could not be reached for additional comment.

Kearny's third-quarter net income rose 13% from a year earlier, to $2.9 million.

In the second-step offering, the mutual holding company that majority-owns Kearny Financial would sell all its shares and then be dissolved.

Sandler O'Neill is Kearny's financial adviser, while Luse Gorman Pomerenk & Schick is its legal counsel.