Horizon Bancorp (NASDAQ: HBNC) (“Horizon”) and LaPorte Bancorp,
Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSB) (“LaPorte Bancorp”), jointly announced that the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve
Board have approved or not objected to the proposed merger of
LaPorte Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, The LaPorte
Savings Bank, with and into Horizon’s wholly-owned bank subsidiary,
Horizon Bank, N.A.
“We are very pleased to have received these regulatory approvals
to complete the merger and that the approval process went smoothly
and efficiently,” said Craig Dwight, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Horizon. “This helps keep us on target to complete the
merger by our original target date of July 2016,” continued
Dwight.
Michele Thompson, President and Chief Financial Officer of
LaPorte Bancorp, stated, “I am extremely happy with the progress
being made by both The LaPorte Savings Bank and Horizon Bank
integration teams, and we are pleased that these regulatory
approvals have been obtained in such a timely fashion. I am
confident that our teams will continue to work well together,
meeting the anticipated closing date of the merger.”
The merger is expected to be completed in July 2016 and remains
subject to approval by LaPorte Bancorp’s stockholders as well as
the satisfaction of various other closing conditions. LaPorte
Bancorp will hold its special meeting of stockholders to approve
the merger on Monday, July 11, 2016, at 5:00 PM, local time, at the
main office of The LaPorte Savings Bank located at 710 Indiana
Avenue, LaPorte, Indiana 46350.
Additionally, Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp announced that the
election deadline for LaPorte Bancorp stockholders to elect the
type of merger consideration they will receive, subject to
allocation and proration procedures, is 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on
July 8, 2016. The merger agreement provides that 65% of the
outstanding shares of LaPorte Bancorp common stock will be
exchanged for Horizon common stock and 35% of the outstanding
shares of LaPorte Bancorp common stock will be exchanged for cash.
When the elections of all LaPorte Bancorp stockholders have been
received, Horizon will determine the exact amount of cash and/or
shares of Horizon common stock to be distributed to LaPorte Bancorp
stockholders based on their election choices and the proration
procedures described in the merger agreement and the proxy
statement/prospectus.
About Horizon Bancorp
Horizon Bancorp is a locally owned, independent, commercial bank
holding company serving northern and central Indiana and southwest
and central Michigan through its commercial banking subsidiary
Horizon Bank, NA. Horizon also offers mortgage-banking services
throughout the Midwest. Horizon Bancorp may be reached online at
www.horizonbank.com. Its common stock
is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol
HBNC.
About LaPorte Bancorp, Inc.
LaPorte Bancorp, Inc. is an Indiana corporation headquartered in
LaPorte, Indiana with The LaPorte Savings Bank as its wholly owned
subsidiary. The LaPorte Savings Bank was founded in 1871 and offers
a full range of banking services with seven branch locations
serving northeast Indiana and a loan production office in Saint
Joseph, Michigan. LaPorte Bancorp may be reached online at
www.laportesavingsbank.com. Its common
stock is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol
LPSB.
Additional Information
In connection with the proposed merger, on May 18, 2016, Horizon
filed with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that
includes a proxy statement of LaPorte Bancorp and a prospectus of
Horizon, as well as other relevant documents concerning the
proposed transaction. The Form S-4 has been declared effective and
the definitive proxy statement/prospectus has been mailed to
stockholders of LaPorte Bancorp on or about June 8, 2016.
Stockholders and investors are urged to read the Registration
Statement and the proxy statement/prospectus regarding the merger
and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any
amendments or supplements to those documents, because they contain
important information.
A free copy of the proxy statement/prospectus, as well as any
other documents either Horizon or LaPorte Bancorp has filed with
the SEC, may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov. In addition, you may obtain copies of these documents,
free of charge, from Horizon at www.horizonbank.com under the tab
“About Us – Investor Relations – Documents – SEC Filings” and from
LaPorte Bancorp at www.laportesavingsbank.com under the tab “About
Us – Investor Relations”. Alternatively, these documents can be
obtained free of charge from Horizon upon written request to
Horizon Bancorp, Attn: Dona Lucker, Shareholder Relations Officer,
515 Franklin Square, Michigan City, Indiana 46360 or by calling
(219) 874-9272, or from LaPorte Bancorp upon written request to
LaPorte Bancorp, Inc., Attn: Michele Thompson, 710 Indiana Avenue,
LaPorte, Indiana 46350 or by calling (219) 362-7511. The
information available through Horizon’s website and LaPorte
Bancorp’s website is not and shall not be deemed part of this press
release or incorporated by reference into other filings either
Horizon or LaPorte Bancorp makes with the SEC. This communication
does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy any securities.
Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp and certain of their directors and
executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the
solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of LaPorte Bancorp in
connection with the proposed merger. Information about the
directors and executive officers of Horizon is set forth in
Horizon’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February
29, 2016 and in the proxy statement for Horizon’s 2016 annual
meeting of shareholders, as filed with the SEC on a Schedule 14A on
March 15, 2016. Information about the directors and executive
officers of LaPorte Bancorp is set forth in LaPorte Bancorp’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, as
filed with the SEC on March 24, 2016. Additional information
regarding the interests of these participants and any other persons
who may be deemed participants in the transaction may be obtained
by reading the proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed
merger. Free copies of this document may be obtained as described
in the preceding paragraph.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements
regarding the financial performance, business prospects, growth and
operating strategies of Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp. For these
statements, Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp claim the protections of
the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in
this press release should be considered in conjunction with the
other information available about Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp,
including the information in the filings each makes with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements
provide current expectations or forecasts of future events and are
not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking
statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties. Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp
have tried, wherever possible, to identify such statements by using
words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,”
“plan,” “believe,” “will” and similar expressions in connection
with any discussion of future operating or financial
performance.
Although Horizon’s and LaPorte Bancorp’s management believe that
the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, actual results may differ materially from those
expressed or implied in such statements. Risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially include risk
factors relating to the banking industry and the other factors
detailed from time to time in Horizon’s and LaPorte Bancorp’s
respective Annual Reports on Form 10-K and other periodic filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Undue reliance should
not be placed on the forward-looking statements, which speak only
as of the date hereof. Horizon and LaPorte Bancorp do not
undertake, and specifically disclaim any obligation, to publicly
release the result of any revisions that may be made to update any
forward-looking statement to reflect the events or circumstances
after the date on which the forward-looking statement is made, or
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the
extent required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160616006370/en/
Horizon Contact Information:Craig M. DwightChairman and
Chief Executive OfficerPhone: (219) 873-2725orMark E. SecorChief
Financial OfficerPhone: (219) 873-2611Fax: (219)
874-9280orLaPorte Bancorp Contact Information:Lee A.
BradyChief Executive OfficerPhone: (219) 362-7511orMichele M.
ThompsonPresident and Chief Financial OfficerPhone: (219)
362-7511
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