Kankakee to acquire Aviston Financial

Northwestern Financial Review, Jul 15-Jul 31, 2003

Kankakee Bancorp Inc., Kankakee, Ill., has agreed to acquire Trenton, Ill.-based Aviston Financial Corp. in a stock transaction valued at approximately $13.5 million.

"The combination of Kankakee and Aviston is the next step toward our vision of becoming the premier community financial institution serving the Central Illinois markets between Chicago and St. Louis," Kankakee Chairman Michael Griffith said.

The $98 million Aviston operates three banking centers in Illinois, including new branches in St. Louis and Fairview Heights. The $517 million Kankakee has 14 bank offices.

Upon completion of the merger, Aviston will be merged with and into Kankakee. In addition, Kankakee's thrift subsidiary KFS Bank, FSB will be merged into the State Bank of Aviston, with the resulting company operating as an Illinois chartered state bank headquartered in Kankakee.

Aviston President and CEO Thomas Daiber will assume chief executive and president responsibilities for the resulting holding company and its subsequent unit banks. The companies expect the merger to close later this year.

Daiber said the merger was a good deal for State Bank of Aviston shareholders and customers because it will increase the asset base of the company. By merging with a publicly traded company, State Bank of Aviston can get access to capital for expansion and also will have a larger deposit base from which to make loans, he said.

"Kankakee has an excellent retail branch network with a strong core deposit base and is a leading mortgage originator within its market," Daiber said. "Kankakee's strength as a retail bank will be a tremendous complement to Aviston's strong and growing commercial banking presence."