Heartland Financial USA, Inc. Announces Plan to Acquire AIM Bancshares, Inc. in Texas

Combination of FirstBank & Trust and AimBank Will Create Heartland’s Largest Community Bank and Significantly Expand Heartland’s Presence in West Texas

DUBUQUE, Iowa and LEVELLAND, Texas, Feb. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dubuque, IA-based Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (“Heartland”) (NASDAQ: HTLF) and Levelland, TX-based AIM Bancshares, Inc. (“ABI”), are pleased to announce they have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Heartland will acquire ABI and its wholly owned subsidiary, AimBank.  The acquisition marks Heartland’s 17th acquisition since 2012.

Based on Heartland’s closing common stock price of $49.88 per share on February 10, 2020, the stock and cash transaction is valued at approximately $280.4 million, or $11,010.16 per share of ABI common stock (including the consideration to be paid in exchange for the termination of ABI stock options), subject to certain adjustments.  The actual transaction value will change due to fluctuations in the price of Heartland common stock and is subject to certain potential adjustments as set forth in the merger agreement.

AimBank is a full-service community bank, headquartered in Levelland, TX with approximately $1.78 billion in total assets, $1.16 billion in net loans outstanding and $1.54 billion in deposits as of December 31, 2019.  The bank serves Lubbock, Midland-Odessa, Amarillo, Abilene and other surrounding West Texas communities from 19 full-service banking centers. AimBank also has six full-service banking centers in Northeastern New Mexico.

Upon completion of the merger of ABI with and into Heartland, AimBank will merge with and into Heartland’s existing Lubbock, TX-based subsidiary, FirstBank & Trust (“FB&T”), which had approximately $1.14 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2019 and operates eight full-service banking centers in West Texas. The combination of AimBank and FirstBank & Trust will create Heartland’s largest bank subsidiary with assets of almost $3 billion and 33 banking centers serving West Texas and Northeastern New Mexico. This bank subsidiary will operate under the FirstBank & Trust brand.

After completing the acquisition of ABI, Heartland will have total assets of approximately $15 billion with 140 full-service banking locations operating in 12 states.

“We are highly impressed with the people and performance of AimBank and the solid community banking franchise they have built,” said Lynn B. Fuller, Executive Operating Chairman of Heartland. “We strongly believe in the growth prospects of the Texas market, and I am confident that AimBank will be an outstanding addition to the Heartland organization.”