Centrue sells Manlius and Tampico branches
OTTAWA — Centrue Financial Corporation announced Monday that its principal banking subsidiary, Centrue Bank, has reached agreements for the sale of four of its Illinois branches including those in Manlius and Tampico.
Peoples National Bank, headquartered in Kewanee, has signed a definitive agreement to assume about $25.9 million in loans, as well as about $31.3 million in deposits, from Centrue Bank for its two branches located in Manlius and Tampico.
Apple River State Bank, headquartered in Apple River, has signed a definitive agreement to assume about $12.7 million in loans, as well as about $25.3 million in deposits, from Centrue Bank for its two branches located in Elizabeth and Hanover.
The transactions are part of an ongoing effort by the company to redeploy capital to its higher-growth and anchor markets. Financial details of the agreements were not disclosed, and all of the sales are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2008, pending regulatory approval.
Each of the agreements is to purchase certain loans and fixed assets, including the branch locations, and to assume all of the deposit relationships of the Centrue Bank branches being purchased. In aggregate, these transactions represent selling about $38.6 million in loans and $56.6 million in deposits and are expected to result in a small gain for Centrue Financial. The divested amount represents 4 percent of total loans and 5.5 percent of total deposits.
“After much analysis and consideration, our board and management team agreed that selling our branches in these smaller markets and utilizing that capital to strengthen and expand our position within our existing higher growth and anchor markets is in the best long-term interest of our shareholders,” remarked Thomas A. Daiber, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “The successful negotiation of these sales is a testament to the work and the relationships that our Centrue Bank employees have built in these markets and we are pleased to have entered into agreements to transfer these branches to strong and reputable banking organizations that were excited to expand their footprints from nearby communities.”
These sales, in addition to the closing of the company’s Dwight in-store, Coal City in-store and Urbana branches earlier in the year, will reduce Centrue’s branch distribution network to 29 locations.
Centrue Financial Corporation will still have its two branch locations in Princeton. It is a regional financial services company headquartered in Ottawa, serving a market area which extends from the far western and southern suburbs of the Chicago metropolitan area across central and northern Illinois down to the metropolitan St. Louis area.