Lincoln Bank and First Merchants decided to join their efforts

On Wednesday December 31, 2008 First Merchants Corporation successfully completed its merger with Lincoln Bancorp. As part of the $78 million merger, shareholders of Lincoln Bancorp will receive approximately 3,040,460 shares of First Merchants Corporation common stock and approximately $16.8 million in cash in exchange for their Lincoln Bancorp common shares.

As of the date of the integration Lincoln Bank had over $830 million in assets. The combination with First Merchants Bank of Central Indiana will complete in the 2nd quarter of 2009. With the combination First Merchants will be able to extend its services offering to cover 24 banking centers in Hamilton, Johnson, Hendricks, Madison, Brown, and Morgan Counties. Additionally, there are also three banking center locations in Clinton and Montgomery Counties where Lincoln has its customers.

Jerry Engle, President and CEO of Lincoln Bank stated, "The combined strength of Lincoln Bank and First Merchants provides us with the opportunity to offer enhanced products and services. Our customers will benefit from the First Merchants network of 82 banking centers and ATM network throughout Indiana and Ohio."

Source: BusinessWire