DEFIANCE, Ohio, March 21, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Rurban Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:RBNF) ("Rurban"), a leading provider of full-service community banking, investment management, trust services, and bank data processing, announced that it has received regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the Ohio Division of Financial Institutions and the FDIC to consolidate its Banking and Trust subsidiaries into its lead bank, The State Bank and Trust Company.
Rurban plans to merge The Exchange Bank and Reliance Financial Services, N.A. into a single banking unit, The State Bank and Trust Company ("The Bank") at close of business on March 24, 2007.
"We are enthusiastic about completing this merger which will allow us to reach our customers with more convenient locations, while still offering the value-added services of The Bank," stated Ken Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer. Concurring with these comments, Mark Klein as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Bank added, "The successful completion of this merger is supported by our entire company. We feel this is going to be a great consolidation yielding both efficiencies and improved service and product offerings to the former Exchange Bank customers. We are striving to make this merger a seamless transition for our customers."
The Bank, continuing under the leadership of Mark Klein, will add four new full service banking offices in Luckey, Walbridge, Perrysburg, and Sylvania to the current fourteen State Bank and Trust offices. Reliance Financial Services will continue to be led by Craig Kuhlman as President and will operate with no changes to staffing, services or hours except the charter change, which provides operating efficiencies to Rurban and its bottom line.
About Rurban Financial Corp.
Rurban Financial Corp. is a publicly held financial services holding company based in Defiance, Ohio. Rurban's wholly owned subsidiaries are The State Bank and Trust Company; The Exchange Bank; Reliance Financial Services, N.A.; Rurbanc Data Services, Inc. (RDSI); and DCM. The two community banks, State Bank and Exchange Bank, offer a full range of financial services through 18 offices in Allen, Defiance, Fulton, Lucas, Paulding and Wood Counties, Ohio and Allen County, Indiana. Reliance Financial Services offers a diversified array of trust and financial services to customers throughout the Midwest. RDSI and DCM provide data and item processing services to community banks in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Rurban's common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol RBNF. The Company currently has 10,000,000 shares of stock authorized and 5,027,433 shares outstanding. The Company's website is at http://www.rurbanfinancial.net.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements within this document, which are not statements of historical fact, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties inherent in the national and regional banking, insurance and mortgage industries, competitive factors specific to markets in which Rurban and its subsidiaries operate, future interest rate levels, legislative and regulatory actions, capital market conditions, general economic conditions, geopolitical events, the loss of key personnel and other factors.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Rurban undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Rurban or any person acting on our behalf are qualified by these cautionary statements.