DEFIANCE, Ohio, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rurban Financial Corp. , a leading provider of full-service community banking, investment management, trust services and bank data and item processing, today announced that it has filed an application with the Regulatory agencies to open a full service banking center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The branch is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to regulatory approval and the normal contingencies of a purchase agreement for the branch site.
Kenneth A. Joyce, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rurban said, "The addition of the Fort Wayne, Indiana location offers an excellent opportunity to expand our presence in the Allen County area. This purchase is consistent with our plan for strategic expansion into markets having solid growth potential."
Mark A. Klein, President and Chief Executive Officer of The State Bank and Trust Company added, "We began entry into the Fort Wayne market in early 2006 with a Loan Production Office. We now have the opportunity to evolve our existing loan production office into a full service banking center in the growing north side of Fort Wayne. This new full service office will enable us to offer Fort Wayne and the surrounding growth areas our entire slate of community banking services."
The State Bank and Trust Company opened its existing Loan Production Office in Fort Wayne in January, 2006. This office will be consolidated into the new full service branch office upon its opening.
The new full service banking center will be located at 12832 Coldwater Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46845. The site is currently under construction and the facility should be completed and opened by year-end 2006.
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), Diverse Computer Marketers (DCM) and RFCBC, Inc. The two community banks, State Bank and Exchange Bank, offer a full range of financial services through 19 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 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.
