BAYONNE, N.J.– BCB Bancorp, Inc. of Bayonne, NJ (NASDAQ: BCBP – News), the holding company for BCB Community Bank, announced June 7, it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with IA Bancorp, Inc. As a result of the merger, BCB will acquire IAB and its wholly owned subsidiary, Indus-American Bank.

Indus-American Bank, which has its headquarters in Edison, New Jersey, operates full-service branches in Edison, Jersey City, Parsippany and Plainsboro, New Jersey, and Hicksville, New York. It was founded primarily to meet the banking needs of the South Asian-American community. Indus-American Bank specializes in core business banking products for small- to medium-sized companies, with an emphasis on real estate-based lending.

Once the merger is complete, Indus-American Bank will merge with BCB Community Bank and will operate as a division of BCB Community Bank. Following the closing of the merger, BCB will form an advisory board which will consist of current members of the IAB board of directors and other prominent community members, a press release from the company said.

“We are extremely excited and pleased to welcome Indus-American customers and employees to BCB,” Mark D. Hogan, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, is quoted saying in the press release. “This transaction will allow the combined entities to further develop our existing markets in Jersey City and Edison, and will provide further opportunities in Parsippany, Plainsboro and Hicksville, New York, three new, attractive markets for BCB,” Hogan added.

Anil Bansal, chairman of the Board of Directors of IAB, said, “We believe our loyal Indus-American Bank customers and shareholders will greatly benefit from this merger. BCB is a true community bank, with a history of a very strong commitment to its customers and the communities it serves.”

The total transaction value is approximately $20 million, including the assumption by BCB of approximately $7.5 million of IAB preferred stock, outstanding shares of IAB common stock of approximately 4.18 million and based on a 10-day volume weighted average price of BCB common stock.

Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, which both boards of directors have approved, IAB shareholders shall be entitled to elect to receive either 0.189 shares of BCB common stock or $3.05 in cash for each share of IAB common stock, subject to an overall allocation of exchanged IAB shares into 80% BCB common stock and 20% cash.

The closing and the systems’ conversion is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Bansal added that the merger will bring expanded lending capacity, supplementary retail and business products and added capital, which should enable the combined organizations to better serve customers and increase shareholder value.”

Thomas Coughlin, president and CEO of the Company and the Bank, noted that Indus-American Bank’s branch locations complement BCB’s current locations. “The existing Indus-American branches will operate and be known as “BCB-Indus-American Bank, a division of BCB Community Bank,” in recognition of the strong identity forged over the years by Indus-American Bank,” Coughlin said.

The merger will add approximately $235 million to the Company’s asset base, based on IAB’s assets as of March 31. Following completion of the merger, the Company will have total assets of over $2 billion, based on IAB’s and BCB’s respective assets as of March 31, 2017.

BCB Community Bank operates 22 full-service branches in Bayonne, Carteret, Colonia, Edison, Hoboken, Fairfield, Holmdel, Jersey City, Lodi, Lyndhurst, Monroe Township, Rutherford, South Orange, Union and Woodbridge, New Jersey, and two branches in Staten Island, New York