First Financial to acquire SimplyBank for $718.38 per share in cash

First Financial announced the execution of a definitive agreement under which First Financial will acquire SimplyBank. First Financial will pay $718.38 per share in cash for each share of SimplyBank’s common stock outstanding. The aggregate value of the transaction is $73.4M. Upon completion of the merger, SimplyBank will merge into First Financial Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Financial. SimplyBank, headquartered in Dayton, Tennessee, has approximately $702M in assets and operates 13 bank branches and one loan production office in Tennessee and Georgia. SimplyBank has 10 branch offices in Tennessee in the communities of Benton, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Dayton, Decatur, Harriman, Rockwood, Soddy-Daisy and Spring City, as well as three branch offices in Georgia in the communities of Flintstone, Ringgold and Rossville. First Financial, headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana, has assets of approximately $4.8B and operates 70 banking centers in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee through First Financial Bank. If the proposed merger is completed as expected, it is anticipated that First Financial will have total combined consolidated assets of approximately $5.5B. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including, but not limited to, receipt of regulatory and SimplyBank stockholder approvals.