CAPITAL PLANS NEW ACQUISITION; BANK WOULD BUY MAGNA BANK STOCK

Capital Bancorporation Inc., has announced an agreement to purchase all capital stock of Magna Bank of Southern Missouri from Magna Group Inc. of St. Louis.

Under terms of the purchase agreement, the aggregate cash purchase price will equal 1.35 times the book value of the bank with the purchase price not to exceed $17,384,000.

The acquisition will be financed by a public offering of preferred stock of Capital Bancorporaton and from additional debt to be provided by an unaffiliated lender.

The acquisition must be approved by regulatory agencies.

"The new acquisition will increase our total assets by 28 to 29 percent," said Van H. Puls, president and chief executive officer of Capital Bancorporation. "We're excited about our opportunities in the Springfield market."

The Magna Bank of Southern Missouri is headquartered in Ozark, a suburb of Springfield, and includes a total of nine facilities, including facilities in Springfield and Branson.

The acquisition will increase the presence of Capital Bancorporation in Southern Missouri. Three of the company's existing five banks are in Southeast Missouri, including banks in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. The agreement will mark the company's entry into the growing Springfield and Branson markets.

Puls said Springfield was similar to Cape Girardeau, except larger in population.

"Springfield is the regional economic center of Southwest Missouri and Cape Girardeau is the regional hub of Southeast Missouri." he said. "The Springfield area is the third largest metro area in Missouri. Economic statistics show that the metro area consists of about 400,000 people."

Included in the area is Branson, home of Silver Dollar City and several new country-western singing operations.

The Dec. 31 financial statements showed the Magna Bank of Southern Missouri had total assets of $166,966,000; total deposits of $151,800,000; total loans, net of unearned interest, of $106,939,000; and equity capital of $12,267,000.

Capital Bancorporation is a multibank holding company headquartered in Cape Girardeau. The firm operates 17 banking facilities through five subsidiary banks in southeast, central and eastern Missouri.

With the new acquisition, Capital Bancorporation will have total assets of about $750,000,000.