OceanFirst-Partners merger faces regulatory delay

OceanFirst Financial in Red Bank, N.J., is the latest bank to delay the closing date of a planned acquisition. 

Partners Bancorp in Salisbury, Md., disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it no longer expects to complete its $186 million sale to the $11.7 billion-asset OceanFirst by the end of the second quarter. 

The disclosure came after the OceanFirst advised the $1.6 billion-asset Partners that it had “received notice that certain of its regulatory applications … will not be processed on an expedited basis,” the filing said. 

“Neither OceanFirst nor Partners can give any assurance as to the timing of receipt of the regulatory approvals or whether any conditions may be imposed in connection therewith,” Partners added. 

OceanFirst, which announced the acquisition in November, would enter Delaware, Maryland and Virginia with the acquisition. The deal had been expected to close in the first half of this year.