Bank of N.Y. Ties Higher Offer to Irving Dropping ‘Poison Pill’

NEW YORK — Bank of New York Co., reacting to Banca Commerciale Italiana’s sweetened bid for Irving Bank Corp., Tuesday raised its own takeover offer on the condition that Irving’s board scrap its “poison pill” defense.

Bank of New York said it would boost the share portion of its bid for Irving, raising the overall value of its offer to about $1.17 billion, or $67 a share, from $1.08 billion, or $62 a share.

Bank of New York last week proposed a similar offer, which was rebuffed at the time by Irving’s board. Bank of New York on Tuesday extended its tender offer, which was due to expire Tuesday at midnight, until midnight Friday.

On Monday, Banca Commerciale, Irving’s Milanese “white knight,” raised its offer for a controlling 51% stake to $80 a share from $75 a share, putting pressure on the Bank of New York to raise its bid.

Wall Street analysts said Banca Commerciale’s bid, which is to be supplemented by a restructuring at Irving, is worth about $1.2 billion, or $68 to $70 a share.

But stock speculators, who represent a good portion of Irving’s shareholders, are concerned that Banca Commerciale may have some difficulty getting U.S. regulatory approval for its offer. Banca Commerciale filed for approval last Monday, and the process takes several months.

Earlier in the day, the Federal Reserve Board extended its approval of the Bank of New York bid for 45 days, but said that Bank of New York could not increase its stake in Irving by more than 5% during that time without Fed approval. Bank of New York, which launched its takeover bid in September, owns 4.9% of Irving.