First Farmers Financial Corporation Announces Agreement to Acquire First Citizens of Paris, Inc.

CONVERSE, Ind. and PARIS, Ill., Dec. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- First Farmers Financial Corporation, Converse, Indiana and First Citizens of Paris, Inc., Paris, Illinois, announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement under which First Citizens of Paris will merge into a subsidiary of First Farmers.  First Citizens of Paris is the holding company for Citizens National Bank of Paris, which will be merged into First Farmers Bank & Trust, First Farmers' wholly-owned subsidiary bank.

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At September 30, 2011, First Farmers had $875 million in assets and operates 20 branches in eleven counties throughout North Central Indiana.  First Citizens had $205 million in assets and operates two branches in Paris, Illinois, one in Oakland, Illinois, and one in Terre Haute, Indiana. 

Under the terms of the agreement, First Farmers will pay First Citizens' shareholders cash equal to 101% of adjusted book value at the effective date of the transaction.  At September 30, 2011, First Citizens had a total book value of $19.7 million which, net of $3.0 million of adjustments to the carrying value of specifically identified assets, equals adjusted net book value of $16.7 million.  Based on 215,679 shares outstanding, First Citizens' shareholders would have received $78.12 per share if the transaction had been consummated as of September 30th.  The transaction is expected to close late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2012.

Gene Miles, President and Chief Executive Officer of First Farmers stated, "This agreement represents a cooperative effort to bring two outstanding community banks together in a very progressive way. We look forward to working with the staff of First Citizens to build on their exceptional record of community involvement while learning how we can best serve the Greater Edgar, Coles and Vigo County markets.  We are especially excited to expand on First Citizens' agricultural customer base given our organizations historic strengths in the industry. The markets served by First Citizens  are very similar to those that we have served since 1885 and we are very confident that the philosophy of our organization will fit in well in these communities.  Our strong capital position and earnings history has allowed us to continually extend our geographical reach but our commitment to community banking is what has allowed our organization to prosper in markets such as these." 

Bill Minnis, President and Chief Executive Officer of First Citizens added, "First Farmers provides the financial strength and resources that will allow us to better serve our customers and communities, particularly our agricultural customers and rural communities.  Their banking philosophy and commitment to community banking matches our tradition of providing outstanding customer service and active community involvement and support."

In connection with this transaction, Mike Renninger of Renninger & Associates, LLC acted as financial advisor, and Tom Blank of Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, LLP served as counsel to First Farmers Financial Corp.  Scott Martorana of FinPro, Inc. acted as financial advisor, and Ted Eissfeldt and Joe Hemker of Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC served as counsel to First Citizens of Paris, Inc.

SOURCE First Farmers Financial Corporation