The securities litigation law firm of Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, has commenced an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law by the Board of Directors of Centrue Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CFCB) (“Centrue” or the “Company”) relating to the proposed buyout of Centrue by Midland States Bancorp, Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, Centrue shareholders may elect to receive 0.7604 shares of Midland common stock, a fixed consideration of $26.75 in cash, or a combination of cash and stock for each share of Centrue common stock they own. The firm’s investigation seeks to determine, among other things, whether the Company’s Board of Directors failed to satisfy their duties to shareholders, including whether the Board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the Board obtained the best price possible for the Company’s shares of common stock.

If you currently own common stock of Centrue and believe that the proposed buyout price is too low, and you would like to learn more about the investigation being conducted by Brower Piven, please visit our website at http://www.browerpiven.com/currentinvestigations.html. You may also request more information by contacting Brower Piven either by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com or by telephone at (410) 415-6616.

Attorneys at Brower Piven have extensive experience in litigating securities and other class action cases and have been advocating for the rights of shareholders since the 1980s.