MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. & LAPORTE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
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.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160616006370/en/
Horizon Contact Information:
Craig M. Dwight
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (219) 873-2725
or
Mark
E. Secor
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (219) 873-2611
Fax:
(219) 874-9280
or
LaPorte Bancorp Contact Information:
Lee
A. Brady
Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (219) 362-7511
or
Michele
M. Thompson
President and Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (219)
362-7511
Source: Horizon Bancorp