Editor's Note: This wire item was routed to F&B Industry News in error. The companies named — Columbia Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLBK) and Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFBK) — are New Jersey-based bank holding companies with no disclosed material exposure to the food and beverage sector. The dispatch is published below for reference, unaltered in substance, but readers should be aware this transaction falls outside our editorial coverage area. For deal activity directly relevant to food and beverage operators, see our mergers and acquisitions coverage and capital markets tracker.
Columbia Financial, Inc. and Northfield Bancorp, Inc. announced on June 11, 2026 that election materials have been mailed to Northfield common stockholders, giving them until 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on July 10, 2026 to choose their preferred form of consideration in the companies' previously announced merger.
Northfield shareholders may elect to receive shares of common stock in a newly formed Maryland holding company that will sit atop Columbia Bank following the completion of Columbia's pending second-step mutual-to-stock conversion, a cash payment, or a combination of both. No financial terms — including exchange ratios or per-share cash amounts — were disclosed in the announcement.
The election deadline is a procedural milestone standard in bank mergers of this structure. Columbia Financial is incorporated in Delaware and serves as the mid-tier holding company for Columbia Bank; Northfield Bancorp is the holding company for Northfield Bank, with both institutions headquartered in New Jersey. The pending second-step conversion adds a layer of complexity to the deal mechanics, requiring the formation of a new Maryland-incorporated parent entity before the merger can close.
No closing date was specified in the filing, nor was regulatory approval status addressed. Shareholders who miss the July 10 deadline are typically subject to a default allocation determined by proration provisions in the merger agreement, though the companies did not restate those terms in this announcement.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.