By Beverly Bartlett, Building Kentucky
Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Kentucky Bank, based in Paris, Kentucky. The combined banks will offer the greatest number of branch locations, 50, for any Kentucky-based community bank – and will rank as the 2nd largest such bank by deposits.
“Our customers – individuals and businesses – are growing and we are excited to grow with them,” said James A. (Ja) Hillebrand, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stock Yards Bank & Trust. “The combination of the two companies will offer customers the best of both worlds – the breadth of services and solutions offered by national banks, delivered by local bankers who listen and are able to respond to their customers’ needs.”
The two banks have similar roots in Kentucky history. Kentucky Bank originated in Paris, KY in 1851, serving the agricultural economy of the region. Stock Yards Bank traces its history to 1904, when it opened to serve the livestock and agribusiness industries at The Bourbon Stock Yards in Louisville.
Hillebrand said that Stock Yards Bank and Kentucky Bank share a unique alignment of core values, business philosophies and service models – a community bank approach that is based on building long-term relationships and investing in the community.
The combined stock and cash transaction, representing a total consideration of approximately $190 million, is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021, subject to customary regulatory approval and completion of closing conditions.
“This is great news for Kentucky Bank and their customers,” said Louis Prichard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kentucky Bank. “In today’s economic environment, you want a bank that is large enough to weather unexpected events and stands by customers in challenging times. We feel this merger will provide the operating scale, lending capacity, expanded product offering and technology of a larger institution married with the community banking model that both banks have always valued. It is a powerful formula for providing enhanced banking services to the Central Kentucky Market.”
Prichard will join Stock Yards Bank with the title of Central Kentucky Market President and will serve on the bank’s management committees including operations, lending, strategic planning, interest rates and human resources.
Kentucky Bank operates 19 branches throughout central Kentucky cities.
“In community banking, branches are as important as our online and mobile platforms,” Hillebrand said. “They are so important that even during the pandemic both Stock Yards Bank and Kentucky Bank opened new branches – because we believe that banking is about people.”
