A merger between New Jersey’s two banking trade groups that seemed all but assured late last year has been called off, and no new discussions are scheduled.
Representatives from the New Jersey Bankers Association and the New Jersey League of Community Bankers said this week that merger talks broke off in early February and that for now they plan to remain independent.
Meanwhile, the league, which primarily represents thrifts, is searching for a replacement for longtime chief executive Sam Damiano, who retired in December.
The groups have held merger talks off and on for decades. Both Raymond G. Hallock, the league’s chairman, and Michael M. Quick, the association’s chairman, said in interviews Thursday that this time the discussions had progressed further than ever.
Mr. Hallock, the president and CEO of the $3.9 billion-asset Columbia Bank in Fair Lawn, N.J., said “significant cultural issues” were resolved but “financial considerations” were not. He would not elaborate.
“It just wasn’t the time or place to do it,” Mr. Hallock said.
Mr. Quick, the chairman and CEO of the $2.1 billion-asset Susquehanna Patriot Bank in Marlton, N.J., a division of the $7.3 billion-asset Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. of Lititz, Pa., also declined to get into specifics.
He stressed that the two groups have a good working relationship — they often lobby the state Legislature together and work jointly in offering educational programs for their members.
“They’re great guys,” Mr. Quick said. “It just wasn’t the right time. The stars didn’t align.”
Representatives told American Banker in August that a merger had wide support from both groups’ members and that an announcement of an agreement could be made within weeks.
They said at the time that a merger seemed to make more sense than in years past because banks and thrifts had grown more alike and that Mr. Damian’s pending retirement would have removed any question about which group’s executive should run the combined group. (W. Stuart Cameron is the president of the New Jersey Bankers Association.)
Both groups are about 100 years old. Mr. Damiano told American Banker in August that their first merger discussions were in 1908.
Timothy E. Doherty, a spokesman for the association, said the two have discussed merging at least three times in the past 10 years, and he would not rule out future talks.
Banker groups in Texas had also appeared to be near a merger, but their talks broke off in early March.
