BLOOMINGTON, Ill., Nov. 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HBT Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: HBT) (the “Company” or “HBT”), the holding company of Heartland Bank and Trust Company (“Heartland Bank”)), today announced that Patrick F. Busch, Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of the company and president and chief lending officer of Heartland Bank, will leave those positions on December 31, 2022. Mr. Busch will remain at Heartland. Bank, occupying the newly created position of Vice President where he will continue to be involved in business development. Mr. Busch will also remain a member of the Company’s and Heartland Bank’s boards of directors. J. Lance Carter, the company’s president and chief operating officer and chief operating officer of Heartland Bank, will assume the additional title of president of Heartland Bank, effective January 1, 2023. Lawrence J. Horvath, currently Executive Vice President and Senior Regional Lending Officer of Heartland Bank, has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of the Company and Heartland Bank, effective January 1, 2023.
Fred L. Drake, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, commented: “Pat Busch has been an integral part of the success of the company and Heartland Bank since 1995. On behalf of the entire company, I would like to I thank him for the valuable role he has played in the company’s significant growth and for his leadership in helping to create the strong lending culture that has served as the foundation of our franchise.In his new role as vice president, Pat will continue to develop strong lending business relationships in our Northern Illinois markets.Larry Horvath will be a strong successor to Pat as our new Chief Lending Officer and will maintain the conservative lending culture that has made the company a top bank performance”.
Lawrence J. Horvath joined Heartland Bank in 2010 and currently oversees commercial lending for all Heartland Bank markets outside of Cook County and the suburban Chicago area, as well as treasury management services. The 37 years of banking experience of Mr. Horvath’s experiences include commercial lending and credit review, mergers and acquisitions, market leadership and serving as president and CEO of a community bank in Bloomington, Illinois. He is active in the Bloomington, Illinois community, serving on the boards of several local organizations. In addition, he currently serves on the board of the Illinois Bankers Association, serves on the loan committee of the state’s largest community development corporation, and is also Heartland Bank’s representative on the board of the Center for Illinois real estate titles. Mr. Horvath holds a degree in finance from Western Illinois University.
About HBT Financial, Inc.
HBT Financial, Inc., headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, is the holding company of Heartland Bank and Trust Company, and has banking roots that date back to 1920. HBT offers a full suite of business, commercial, wealth management and retail . banking products and services for individuals, businesses and municipal entities throughout central and northeastern Illinois and eastern Iowa through 58 full-service branches. As of September 30, 2022, HBT had total assets of $4.2 billion, total loans of $2.6 billion, and total deposits of $3.6 billion.
Forward-looking statements
Readers should note that, in addition to the historical information contained herein, this press release contains, and future oral and written statements by the Company and its management may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “will,” “propose,” “may,” “plan,” “seek,” “expect,” “attempt,” “estimate.” anticipate”, “believe”, “continue” or “should” or similar terminology. Any forward-looking statements presented herein speak only as of the date of this press release, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or in another way. .
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) the strength of local, state, national and international economies (including the effects of inflationary pressures and limitations of the supply chain); (ii) the economic impact of any future terrorist threats and attacks, widespread disease or pandemic (including the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States), acts of war or other threats thereof, or other adverse external events that may cause an economic deterioration or the instability of credit markets and the response of local, state and national governments to such adverse external events; (iii) changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by state and federal regulatory agencies, the FASB or the PCAOB; (iv) changes in state and federal government laws, regulations and policies relating to the Company’s general business; (v) changes in interest rates and prepayment rates on the Company’s assets (including the impact of the LIBOR phase-out); (vi) increased competition in the financial services industry and the inability to attract new customers; (vii) changes in technology and the ability to develop and maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; (viii) unexpected results of acquisitions, which may include the failure to realize anticipated benefits from acquisitions and the possibility that transaction costs may be higher than expected; (ix) the loss of key executives or employees; (x) changes in consumer spending; (xi) unexpected results of existing or new litigation involving the Company; (xii) the economic impact of exceptional weather events such as tornadoes, floods and snowstorms; (xiii) the possibility that the stockholders of Town and Country Financial Corporation (“Town and Country”) will not approve the merger agreement; (xiv) the risk that a condition to the closing of the proposed transaction will not be satisfied, that either party may terminate the merger agreement or that the closing of the proposed transaction will be delayed or not occur at all; (xv) potential adverse reactions or changes in business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the announcement or completion of the transaction; (xvi) diversion of management time on transaction-related matters; (xvii) the timing, outcome and results of integrating the operations of Town and Country into those of HBT; (xviii) the effects of the merger on HBT’s future financial condition, results of operations, strategy and plans; (xix) regulatory approvals of the transaction; and (xx) the Company’s ability to manage the risks associated with the foregoing. Readers should note that the forward-looking statements included in this press release are not guarantees of future events and that actual events may differ materially from those implied or implied by the forward-looking statements. Additional information about the Company and its business, including additional factors that could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is included in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT:
Tony Rossi
HBTIR@hbtbank.com
(310) 622-8221
