Which Columbia Bank This Article Covers
There is more than one bank operating under the “Columbia Bank” name in the United States. This article covers Columbia Bank, a federally chartered savings bank headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, whose parent company is Columbia Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBK). It is not the same institution as Columbia Banking System, Inc. (Nasdaq: COLB), a separate regional bank headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.
Introduction
Columbia Bank’s parent company, Columbia Financial, Inc., completed a major corporate transformation in July 2026. On July 20, 2026, the Fair Lawn, New Jersey-based company finished converting from a mutual holding company structure into a fully public stock company, raised roughly $1.7 billion in a stock offering, and simultaneously closed its merger with Northfield Bancorp, Inc., the parent of Northfield Bank. Ten days later, on July 30, 2026, Columbia reported its second quarter 2026 earnings and announced its first quarterly cash dividend.
What Happened?
On July 20, 2026, Columbia Financial, Inc. announced that it had completed a second-step conversion, a process that transformed the partially public mutual holding company into a company fully owned by public stockholders. Following the conversion, Columbia Bank remained the company’s wholly owned banking subsidiary, while the holding company became fully public. Columbia Financial investor relations
At the same time, Columbia completed its previously announced acquisition of Northfield Bancorp, Inc., the Staten Island, New York-based parent of Northfield Bank. Northfield’s subsidiary bank was merged directly into Columbia Bank. On a pro forma basis as of March 31, 2026, the combined company had $18.0 billion in total assets, $12.5 billion in total deposits and $11.9 billion in total loans held for investment, along with more than 100 branch offices across New Jersey, Staten Island and Brooklyn.
As part of the offering, Columbia sold 167,236,353 shares of common stock at $10 per share. The company converted each existing mutual holding company share into 2.2000 shares of the new public company. Under the merger terms, Northfield shareholders received either $14.25 in cash or 1.425 shares of Columbia common stock for each share they held, or a combination of both, depending on their elections, for a total transaction value of about $580 million.
Shares of Columbia Financial, Inc. began trading under the ticker symbol CLBK on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on July 21, 2026, the day after closing. Columbia’s SEC filings identify CLBK as its Nasdaq-listed common stock. SEC filings for Columbia Financial
What Columbia Bank Said
Columbia’s leadership described the transaction as a significant milestone. Thomas J. Kemly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia, said the completion of the conversion and merger created one of the largest community banks headquartered in the region and gave the combined company substantial excess capital to support growth and strengthen its market position.
Steven M. Klein, who led Northfield as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer before the merger, said the two organizations had worked for several months to bring together their teams and that the deal positioned the combined institution for continued growth in one of the country’s most competitive banking markets. Following the closing, Columbia appointed Klein as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of both Columbia Financial, Inc. and Columbia Bank.
Key Details
Several corporate and governance changes accompanied the closing:
- Four former Northfield directors, John P. Connors Jr., Timothy C. Harrison, Steven M. Klein and Paul V. Stahlin, joined the boards of both Columbia Financial, Inc. and Columbia Bank.
- After accounting for the offering and the merger, Columbia had approximately 269,542,256 shares of common stock outstanding.
- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods acted as selling agent and lead book-running manager for the offering, with Piper Sandler as co-manager. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton served as legal counsel to Columbia, and Luse Gorman served as legal counsel to Northfield.
On July 30, 2026, Columbia reported second-quarter 2026 results. Net income for the quarter was $14.5 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with $12.3 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier. For the first six months of 2026, net income totaled $27.6 million, up from $21.2 million over the same period in 2025. Because the Northfield merger and conversion closed after the quarter ended, these results do not yet reflect the combined company.
Alongside the earnings release, Columbia’s board declared the company’s first quarterly cash dividend since becoming fully public, set at 5 cents per share. The dividend is payable on August 26, 2026, to shareholders of record as of August 12, 2026.
Background
Columbia Bank has served customers in New Jersey since 1927 and had operated for years as a partially public company under a mutual holding company structure, meaning a mutual entity retained majority control even though a minority of shares traded publicly. The second-step conversion completed in July 2026 ended that structure.
The Northfield acquisition had been announced earlier in 2026 and required regulatory approval, a shareholder vote and an independent appraisal process before it could close alongside the conversion.
Why It Matters
For depositors and borrowers, the merger means Northfield Bank branches across Staten Island, Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey are being brought into the Columbia Bank network, giving the combined institution a larger geographic footprint. Columbia’s official website provides current information about its banking products, services and branch network. Columbia Bank official website
For investors, the transaction converted a partially public mutual structure into a fully public company with a larger capital base, and the newly declared dividend marks the company’s move to recurring cash distributions to common shareholders after the conversion. For the regional banking sector, the deal created one of the larger community banking institutions headquartered in the New York metropolitan area, at a time when many midsize banks have been consolidating to gain scale.
What Happens Next
Columbia has said it expects to continue integrating Northfield’s operations in the coming months, although the company has not disclosed a specific completion date. Shareholders who subscribed for stock in the offering were due to receive statements confirming their holdings on or about July 23, 2026. The company also asked stockholders with certificated shares to return a letter of transmittal to its transfer agent so they could receive their new shares and any cash due for fractional shares. Columbia’s investor-relations site provides company news and financial-report information for shareholders and investors. Columbia Bank investor relations
Beyond these confirmed items, Columbia has not announced further corporate actions related to the conversion or the merger.
