Nearly eight months after first applying, the merger between Merrimack Valley Credit Union and Bridgewater Credit Union has finally passed. The deal will still require regulatory approvals and is not expected to be complete until early 2019.

MVCU said on its website that its members at a special meeting earlier this week voted 230-43 in favor of the merger, while the vote at BCU was 162-21.

The vote completes a long process that was made messy by a federal court ruling in March.

Right after the two credit unions first announced the merger, a federal court struck down portions of a rule proposed by the NCUA that would have made it easier for credit unions to expand their field of membership.

That threw off the merger because MVCU was federally chartered, and also because MVCU and BCU were in fairly different part of the states, making the merger unlike most credit union mergers.

Following the court decision, MVCU and BCU withdrew the merger application and MVCU converted from a federal charter to a state charter, which made it easier for the two organizations to merge.

The new entity will have close to $1 billion in assets, making it one of the top 10 largest credit unions in Massachusetts. It will serve over 80,000 members and have 10 branches.

BCU branches will retain the BCU name and operate as a division of MVCU. John J. Howard, president and CEO of BCU, will lead the combined credit union, while Peter Matthews, president and CEO of MVCU, plans to retire.