First Financial to acquire Finward Bancorp in all-stock deal valued at 1.35x exchange ratio

Finward Bancorp

Finward shareholders receive 1.35 shares of First Financial common stock per share; deal expected to close Q4 2026.
Finward has ~$2.0B assets, $1.7B deposits, $1.5B loans, and $412M in assets under management.
Transaction expected to be ~5% accretive to First Financial's EPS; $500K donation to local communities.
Termination fee of $9.0M payable by Finward under certain circumstances; boards unanimously approved.
Expands First Financial's Chicago presence with 24 locations; pro forma deposits in Chicago MSA exceed $4B.

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