Springfield's Town and Country Bank announced Tuesday that it is merging with a Bloomington-based banking firm.

HBT Financial, the holding company of Heartland Bank, and Town and Country Financial Corp., announced that they had signed an agreement for Heartland to merge with Town and Country, allowing Heartland to expand into Springfield and creating a company with assets of more than $5.1 billion as of June 30.

Each company's board of directors has approved the deal, with final approval set to come in early 2023. The bank would take on the Heartland name, with HBT owning about 90% of the merged company.

More:Snapchat settles Illinois class-action lawsuit. Here's how to file a claim

Micah Bartlett, Town and Country's president and CEO, said the merger creates better opportunities to compete in the industry, while also providing a positive impact for both customers and employees.

"We are excited to partner with one of Illinois’ highest-performing banking organizations to create even more opportunities for our employees and customers," Bartlett said in a release Tuesday. "There are significant opportunities and challenges ahead in the banking business, and the combination of these two strong organizations makes us better equipped to flourish in the long run."

David Kirschner, the company's executive chairman, said the two companies share a commitment to strong customer service and that having the two join forces would be a big boost for customers, employees and shareholders.

"HBT Financial is an ideal merger partner for Town and Country that shares our commitment to superior customer service and supporting the communities in which we operate," Kirschner said in the release. "We look forward to completing this merger and further enhancing the banking experience that we provide our customers by leveraging the greater resources that HBT will provide."

Heartland's CEO, Fred Drake, said Town and Country's conservative credit culture and relationship-based approach to banking was a solid fit, allowing it to continue focusing on making profits and creating value.

"Operating with a similar relationship-based approach to commercial banking and conservative credit culture, Town and Country has built a high-performing institution with an attractive deposit base," Drake said. "Throughout our history, our disciplined approach to M&A (mergers and acquisitions) has helped us to consistently enhance the value of our franchise. We believe that combining with Town and Country will help us continue generating profitable growth and create additional value for shareholders in the years ahead."

More:Springfield District 186 students returned to classrooms Monday. Here's how it went

Town and Country dates back to 1962, when the bank first opened along MacArthur Boulevard. Since then, the bank built a bigger location down the street and opened two other branches in Springfield, along with locations in Bloomington, Lincoln, Decatur, Jacksonville, Quincy, Edwardsville and Fairview Heights.

Heartland Bank – not to be confused with Heartland Credit Union – was first established in 1920, with dozens of locations in Bloomington, Champaign, Lincoln and Peoria among others. The company has been aggressive with purchases in recent year, with banking establishments in the Chicago area and Iowa among the chains purchased in recent years.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Town and Country Financial Corp. merges with Bloomington firm