Kentucky Bancshares : Press Release

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Jan. 27, 2021 )-- Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Kentucky Bank & Trust, based in Paris, KY. The combined banks will create the largest community bank in Kentucky.

'Our customers - individuals and businesses - are growing and we are excited to grow with them,' said James A. (Ja) Hillebrand, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stock Yards Bank & Trust. 'The combination of the two companies will offer customers the best of both worlds - the breadth of services and solutions offered by national banks, delivered by local bankers who listen and are able to respond to their customers' needs. Together, we will be able to serve the Central Kentucky region across the full range of delivery channels they demand including branches, online, mobile and through local, community-based bankers.'

Hillebrand said that Stock Yards Bank and Kentucky Bank share a unique alignment of core values, business philosophies and service models - a community bank approach that is based on building long-term relationships and investing in the community. The two banks also have similar roots in Kentucky history. Kentucky Bank was created in Paris, KY in 1851, serving the agricultural economy of the region. Stock Yards Bank traces its history to 1904, when it opened to serve the livestock and agribusiness industries at The Bourbon Stock Yards in Louisville. Together, they will create the largest Kentucky-based bank based on deposits.

The combined stock and cash transaction, representing a total consideration of approximately $190 million, is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021, subject to customary regulatory approval and completion of closing conditions. It will make Stock Yards the largest bank by deposits in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

'This is good news for Kentucky Bank and their customers,' said Louis Prichard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kentucky Bank. 'In today's economic environment, you want a bank that is large enough to weather unexpected events and stands by customers in challenging times. We feel this merger will provide the operating scale, lending capacity, expanded product offering and technology of a larger institution married with the community banking model that both banks have always valued. It is a powerful formula for providing enhanced banking services to the Central Kentucky Market.'

Prichard will join Stock Yards Bank with the title of Central Kentucky Market President and will serve on the bank's management committees including operations, lending, strategic planning, interest rates and human resources.

Kentucky Bank operates 19 branches throughout the following central Kentucky cities: Paris (Bourbon County), Cynthiana (Harrison County), Georgetown (Scott County), Lexington (Fayette County), Morehead (Rowan County), Nicholasville (Jessamine County), Richmond (Madison County), Sandy Hook (Elliott County), Versailles (Woodford County), Wilmore (Jessamine County) and Winchester (Clark County).

'In community banking, branches are as important as our online and mobile platforms,' Hillebrand said. 'They are so important that even during the pandemic both Stock Yards Bank and Kentucky Bank opened new branches - because we believe that banking is about people. Life-long relationships are built and strengthened at the local level and enhanced by the convenience and accessibility of online and mobile delivery channels.'

About Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc., with $4.6 billion in assets, was incorporated in 1988 as a bank holding company. It is the parent company of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company, which was established in 1904. The Company's common shares trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol SYBT. For more information about Stock Yards Bancorp, visit the Company's website at www.syb.com. It has branches in Louisville, Indianapolis, northern Kentucky and Cincinnati markets.

About Kentucky Bancshares, Inc.

Paris, Kentucky-based Kentucky Bancshares, Inc., with $1.2 billion in assets, was incorporated in 1981 as a bank holding company. It is the parent company of Kentucky Bank, which was established in 1851. The Company's common shares trade on the OTCQX under the symbol KTYB. For more information about Kentucky Bancshares, Inc., visit their website at www.kybank.com.

This report contains forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act that involve risks and uncertainties. Although the Company's management believes the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of these assumptions could be inaccurate. Therefore, there can be no assurance the forward-looking statements included herein will prove to be accurate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: economic conditions both generally and more specifically in the markets in which the Company and its subsidiary operates; competition for the Company's customers from other providers of financial services; government legislation and regulation, which change and over which the Company has no control; changes in interest rates; material unforeseen changes in liquidity, results of operations, or financial condition of the Company's customers; the effects of the FRB's benchmark interest rate cuts on liquidity and margins; the potential adverse effects of the coronavirus or any other pandemic on the ability of borrowers to satisfy their obligations to the Company, the level of the Company's non-performing assets, the demand for the Company's loans or its other products and services, other aspects of the Company's business and operations, and financial markets and economic growth, and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company. See 'Risk Factors' outlined in the Company's Form 10-Q for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.