Centrue Bank, the principal banking subsidiary of Centrue Financial Corporation, has reached agreements for the sale of four of its Illinois branches.
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 approximately $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% of total loans and 5.5% of total deposits.
Thomas Daibe, president and CEO of Centrue, said: 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.
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.