Sun Financial buys Citizens Home Bank

Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Elmer Austermann, who with Ron Roy owns Sun Financial Corp., couldn’t disclose sale particulars, however, he said the deal was sealed at market price. “It wasn’t a steal,” he said.

In addition to Citizens Home Bank’s book of loan and deposit business and client base, the acquisition included locations in Greenfield, Stockton, Weaubleau, Fair Play, Humansville and Willard, as well as all equipment. About 45 employees joined Sun Financial Corp. as a result of the sale, he added.

The acquisition complements Sun Security Bank, the bank operations of Sun Financial Corp., Austermann said. Sun Security Bank has 19 branches with 118 employees, and all locations are south of Interstate 70.

Citizens Home Bank, which the Hulston Family Trust bought as a single community bank in 1967 from the Wilson family of Greenfield, had seen its primary expansion within the last three years, said John L. Hulston, Hulston Family Trust trustee and board chairman of Kansas City-based Hulston Properties. The bank’s target markets in the past were primarily residential and farm real estate loans, he added.

The decision to seek out Austermann as a buyer in January was prompted by Sun Security’s access to diversified loan markets, such as St. Louis, that Citizens Home Bank wasn’t operating in, Hulston said. Also, Austermann was committed to adding new technology.

“We had to make commitments to expand and branch, or headquarter, into a larger populated area, which would give us access to new loan markets for additional loan volume and diversity,” Hulston said. “We decided that we could either do that or merge or sell with a bank that already had these capabilities. It was a good fit.”

Sun Security Bank doesn’t have a special marketing emphasis, according to Austermann. “We don’t have a particular target market. We do business with anybody that will pay us back,” he said.

Citizens Home Bank – which will retain its name – will continue to work in the agricultural customer niche, said President Bob Blakemore. Blakemore noted that small-business owners dominate the bank’s commercial client roster.

Some noticeable changes in Citizens Home Bank’s operations will be in restructured fees.

“(Austermann) is increasing some of the costs,” said Tom Griffin, branch manager at the bank’s six-employee Willard location. While Citizens Home Bank was below market on some income-producing fees including overdraft charges, Austermann is “bringing them in line with the Springfield market a little more,” Griffin added.