ChoiceOne Bank Receives MiBiz Annual M&A Deal of the Year Award

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Feb 18, 2021, 07:30 ET

SPARTA, Mich., Feb. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: COFS), the parent company of ChoiceOne Bank, is pleased to announce ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc., won the M&A Deal of the Year Award in the Finance/Banking category.

The M&A Deal of the Year Award recognizes a company for its dealmaking activity between July 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2020. The corporate deal awards highlight interesting, strategic or challenging transactions that offer lessons, best practices and insight into the local, national and regional economy.

"We are honored to win the MiBiz Annual M&A Deals & Dealmakers Award," said ChoiceOne CEO, Kelly J. Potes. "During the time frame of this award, ChoiceOne had completed two bank mergers and consolidated the two banks with and into ChoiceOne Bank. As a result of these mergers, our assets have more than doubled to over $1.9 billion today, our employee base also grew to approximately 378 as our community bank footprint now spans Michigan. Our new scale allowed us to quickly leverage our strengths when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020 and continue to serve our customers with industry-leading technology and sound, compassionate financial solutions."

From July 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2020, ChoiceOne completed these two bank mergers:

ChoiceOne completed the strategic merger with County Bank Corp., former parent company of Lakestone Bank & Trust, which closed on October 1, 2019. In May 2020, ChoiceOne completed the consolidation of Lakestone Bank & Trust with and into ChoiceOne Bank.
ChoiceOne completed the strategic merger with Community Shores Bank Corporation, former parent company of Community Shores Bank, which closed on July 1, 2020. In October 2020, ChoiceOne completed the consolidation of Community Shores Bank with and into ChoiceOne Bank.

With ChoiceOne's broader scale and employee base, the Bank was able to process 1,284 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $163 million for customers and noncustomers. These funded loans went back into the communities ChoiceOne Bank serves helping businesses keep over 18 thousand people employed in Michigan. ChoiceOne continues to serve its communities during the COVID-19 pandemic helping to keep families and small businesses thriving, which subsequently helps to provide stability to Michigan's economy.

This year is the eighth Annual MiBiz M&A Deal of the Year Awards. The awards are selected by a panel of executives, attorneys, investment bankers and others involved in the M&A sector. In selecting winners, they pay close attention to the strategic rationale for the deal as well as its effect on the business and the results from the dealmaking.

"The last year and a half has certainly been amazing for ChoiceOne," said Potes. "I must say, our expert teams worked incredibly hard to combine our banking operations and make these transitions as seamless as possible with limited disruption for our customers. Now serving Southeastern Michigan and expanding further into West Michigan, these consolidations present many efficiencies and new growth opportunities in our expanded network across our great state."

ChoiceOne is an approximately $1.9 billion-asset bank holding company with 34 offices, employing approximately 378 employees in West and Southeastern Michigan, making it the 10^th largest bank holding company in Michigan based on asset size.

About ChoiceOne
ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Sparta, Michigan and the parent corporation of ChoiceOne Bank. Member FDIC. ChoiceOne Bank, named one of America's Best Banks by Newsweek, operates 34 offices in parts of Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Lapeer, St. Clair and Macomb counties. ChoiceOne Bank offers insurance and investment products through its subsidiary, ChoiceOne Insurance Agencies, Inc. ChoiceOne Financial Services, Inc. common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "COFS." For more information, please visit Investor Relations at ChoiceOne's website choiceone.com.