Bank M&A has “a rhythm and a routine that’s very well known,” Valley COO Russ Barrett said. But the bank’s Bluevine deal has “unique dimensions that are very different than a bank acquisition.”

Since agreeing to sell small-business banking fintech Bluevine to Valley National Bank in September, founder and CEO Eyal Lifshitz said his confidence in the firms’ match boils down to three things.

“One, do we get to do what we are excited and passionate about? Two, do we like our day-to-day? And three, do we like the people that we're going to be working with?” he said.

The deal, thus far, has all three passing with flying colors, according to Lifshitz.

“We feel like [the deal] puts us in a really good position to not just continue doing what we're doing, but actually accelerate that,” Lifshitz said in an interview at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas. “It’s easy to get myself and the team excited about [what we do], but at scale, with the backing and the benefit of being part of Valley? That brings a lot to the table.”

Morristown, New Jersey-based Valley will pay $340 million in cash and stock for Bluevine, which brings with it $2.1 billion in deposits and 175,000 active small-business clients. The deal is set to close early in 2027, after which Lifshitz will oversee Valley’s small-business arm, including the bank’s legacy small-business clients.

With Lifshitz as head of small-business banking, Valley will be able to “bring [the businesses] together the right way,” said the bank’s chief operating officer, Russ Barrett.

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