Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) announced that yet again its merger plans with M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) have been delayed. The Federal Reserve Board advised M&T last Friday that it will not act on the merger application before the current termination date, and as a result the target date of May 1, 2015, is being pushed back.

At some point you have to wonder just how long a merger review should last before it hurts the companies enough that they have to walk away.

The original terms of the agreement were set forth in 2012. Under terms of the original agreement, each Hudson City share will receive consideration valued at 0.08403 of an M&T share in the form of either M&T stock or cash, based on the election of each Hudson City shareholder, subject to proration as specified in the merger agreement. This provides for an aggregate split of total consideration of 60% common stock of M&T and 40% cash. Based on the closing price of M&T stock on August 24, 2012, the transaction was originally valued at approximately $3.7 billion.

Denis Salamone, chairman and CEO of Hudson City, stated:

We continue to believe the strategic and economic fundamentals of the merger of Hudson City and M&T are attractive to Hudson City’s shareholders, customers and the communities we serve. However, given the unexpected notice of delay over a holiday weekend, the Board of Hudson City needs more time to understand the nature and timing of the delay and its potential impact on the transaction before the Board can determine its course of action.

Now if you look at the charts for both Hudson City and M&T for the range of this deal, they are starkly different. Since August 2012, M&T shares have gained roughly 43% and the chart looks positive overall, barring recent market volatility. Hudson City’s chart is not nearly as strong. Actually from this time in 2012, the stock has only gained about 34% over nearly three years, and the price has been relatively flat for most of that time, following the initial jump.

ALSO READ: UBS Says Top Global Banks to Buy Now All in the U.S.

Shares of Hudson City were down 9% at $9.56, Monday afternoon, in a 52-week trading range of $8.53 to $10.77. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $9.59.

M&T’s shares were down 3% at $123.40. The consensus analyst price target is $133.13, and the 52-week trading range is $111.78 to $129.58.

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