Leumi, one of Israel's two largest banks, in September said it would merge Leumi USA into Valley National Bancorp in an agreement valuing Leumi USA at about $1.2 billion and creating the 29th-largest publicly traded U.S. bank.
Leumi has said it will hold just over 14% of the merged bank stocks, making it the largest non-controlling shareholder, as it seeks to enhance its exposure to the U.S. market.