White River Bancshares Co. Announces Completion of $12.46 Million Private Placement of Common Shares

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., May 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- White River Bancshares Company (OTCQX: WRIV) (the “Company”), the holding company for Signature Bank of Arkansas (the “Bank”), today announced that it has completed a private placement of $12.46 million of the Company’s common shares to certain accredited investors. The Company issued 226,619 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $55.00 per share in connection with the private placement transaction. The Company expects to use the proceeds from the capital raise to support organic and strategic growth opportunities.

“The success of this capital raise is a reflection of the strength of our bank and the dedication of our Board of Directors, management and team members as we expand our community bank throughout the state of Arkansas, providing our style of community banking to communities who need us,” said Gary Head, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “This additional capital will support our strategy and growth plans as we continue to focus on supporting the customers and communities we serve and on building long-term value for our shareholders.”

The shares were offered on a best-efforts basis through Performance Trust Capital Partners LLC, which served as the sole placement agent for the offering. Holland & Knight LLP served as legal counsel to the Company and Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP provided legal counsel to the placement agent.

About White River Bancshares Company

White River Bancshares Company is the single bank holding company for Signature Bank of Arkansas, headquartered in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Bank has locations in Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers, Brinkley, Harrison and Jonesboro, Arkansas. Founded in 2005, Signature Bank of Arkansas provides a full line of financial services to small businesses, families and farms. White River Bancshares Company (OTCQX: WRIV), trades on the OTCQX Best Market.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains statements about future events. These forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions of management of the Company and the Bank and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “believe,” “plan,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” or similar expressions or the negative of those terms. Our ability to predict results of future events and the actual effect of future plans or strategies are inherently uncertain and actual results may differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could have a material adverse effect on our operations and future prospects or that could affect the outcome of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in interest rates; the economic health of the local real estate market; general economic conditions; credit deterioration in our loan portfolio that would cause us to increase our allowance for loan losses; legislative or regulatory changes; technological developments; monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. government, including policies of the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board; the quality or composition of our loan and securities portfolios; demand for loan products in our market areas; deposit flows and costs of capital; competition; retention and recruitment of qualified personnel; demand for financial services in our market areas; and changes in accounting principles, policies, and guidelines. These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The Company does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.