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SHORT HILLS, NJ-Investors Bancorp, which is on the brink of completing a merger with Roma Financial in southern New Jersey, is seeing the move “pay dividends” before the deal is even finalized, says Investors' chief lending officer, Richard Spengler.

Spengler tells GlobeSt.com that Investors will close soon on $100 million financing for a large package of multifamily properties in suburban Philadelphia that came to the Short Hills-based bank through Roma's connections.

In addition, the bank is working on a financing deal for “a large retail piece” in Cape May County, Spengler says, which also came through Roma.

“Roma, based in Gloucester County, didn't previously have the horsepower to do the bigger deals, Spengler says. “The relationships were already there. Now, we get to capitalize on them.”

Last spring, Investors hired Timothy J. Touhey, a former CEO of the New Jersey Builders Association, to oversee expansion of its Commercial Real Estate Finance Group at Roma's base in Robbinsville. The southern New Jersey group is focused on providing financing to real estate companies, developers and businesses in South and Central Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Federal Reserve Board approval of the merger between the two banks is expected any time now, Spengler says, although it has taken months and has already been officially delayed once. State banking authorities and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have already given their approvals.

In the merger transaction, Investors will acquire the smaller Robbinsville-based Roma for a reported $452 million.

Investors, a major home mortgage lender in the state, is looking to expand its lending in the industrial sector, says Spengler, and expects strong end-of-the-year activity in retail.