Valley National Bancorp announced on Sept. 28 that it agreed to buy Bluevine Inc., a digital banking platform for small businesses, for $340 million.

The transaction is expected to consist of about 75% cash and 25% Valley common stock. Inclusive of expected synergies, the acquisition is expected to be about 8% accretive to estimated 2028 earnings per share. The transaction is also expected to result in about 5% tangible book value dilution at closing, with an estimated earn-back period of approximately three years.

The acquisition is expected to close in early 2027. Financial terms were not available.

Valley’s stock opened on Sept. 28 at $12.82, down 27 cents, or -1.99%. More than 6.5 million shares traded on Monday, compared with a daily average of nearly 507,000.

The acquisition aligns with Valley’s priorities of enhancing its funding base, expanding its small business franchise, and accelerating its digital and artificial intelligence strategy.

Bluevine will bring Valley a scaled, high-growth digital small business platform; $2.1 billion of low-cost, digitally sourced deposits which Bluevine and Valley intend to grow over time; and an established suite of integrated banking, payments, lending and financial-management solutions designed for small businesses across the country.

Additionally, Bluevine’s engineering, product, data science and AI talent will help accelerate Valley’s long-term technology strategy, which includes a focus on broader development of internal capabilities and less reliance on third-party software and service providers.

Founded in 2013 and based in Jersey City, Bluevine serves about 175,000 small business customers and was voted 2026 Best Overall Small Business Bank by Money.com and 2026 Best Online Business Checking Account by NerdWallet.

Bluevine helps small businesses, with platform-generated deposits increasing at roughly a 35% compound annual growth rate from 2023 through the second quarter of 2026. About 99% of these deposits are from non-borrowing customers, which is expected to provide Valley with access to a diversified, relationship-driven source of core funding.

The transaction adds a nationwide digital acquisition channel to complement Valley’s relationship-led banking model. By gaining access to Valley’s branch network of about 220 offices and broader treasury management, credit, insurance, wealth and capital markets solutions, Bluevine customers will benefit from a more holistic value proposition as clients of the combined organization.

Valley’s existing small business customers will benefit from Bluevine’s digital platform that combines business checking, payments, bill pay, invoicing, lending and financial-management capabilities in a unified experience for small businesses.

The acquisition will also accelerate Valley’s technology and AI strategy by adding about 180 research and development professionals and engineers, primarily located in established technology hubs like Redwood City, Calif.; Jersey City; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Tel Aviv, Israel. Bluevine brings a highly regarded engineering culture, modern technology architecture, and experience applying data and AI solutions to small business workflows.

Owning these capabilities will give Valley greater control over its customer experience, more speed in bringing solutions to market, and a durable foundation for further innovation beyond Bluevine’s legacy small business focus areas.

“The acquisition of Bluevine directly advances the strategic priorities we have previously communicated to our shareholders,” said Ira Robbins, Valley’s chairman, president and CEO. “It is expected to enhance our core funding capabilities, add a proven small business growth platform and meaningfully accelerate our digital and AI capabilities.

“Bluevine has built an impressive franchise which has generated a diversified base of small business operating deposit relationships, a highly engaged customer community and a modern technology platform purpose-built for the needs of small businesses. By combining Valley’s balance sheet and product capabilities with Bluevine’s digital platform and customer-acquisition engine, we can accelerate our aspiration to be the bank of choice for small businesses across the country.”

Eyal Lifshitz, co-founder and CEO of Bluevine, will join Valley as head of small business banking following the close of the transaction.

“Bluevine was founded to give small business owners the financial tools and digital experience they need to manage and grow their businesses,” said Lifshitz. “Valley shares that commitment and brings the balance sheet capacity, relationship banking expertise and broader capabilities necessary to support our customers through every stage of their journey. Together, we will be able to expand our impact while preserving the technology, customer focus and entrepreneurial culture that have driven Bluevine’s success.”

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is serving as financial adviser to Valley and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal counsel to Valley. Financial Technology Partners acted as the exclusive adviser to Bluevine and its board of directors in the sale to Valley. Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel to Bluevine.

This is Valley National’s first acquisition since it agreed to buy South Holland, Ill.-based Providence Financial Corporation in August for $247 million. That transaction is scheduled to close in early 2027.