Amcore Bank, a mid-west US firm providing services including wealth management, said yesterday it has agreed to sell 12 of its branches to Midlands States Bank of Effingham, IL.

The transaction includes about $480 million in loans, $540 million in deposits and sweep accounts, $400 in trust and brokerage account relationships, as well as branch facilities, fixed assets and leases. As part of the deal, Amcor will receive a 1.5 per cent loan deposit premium and a $1.5 million trust account premium.

Amcore, which is part of US-listed Amcore Financial, said the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.

The bank said the move comes as part of a number of steps to improve its capital position, such as its recent sale of $135 million in non-strategic, non-relationship loans, the completed sale of four rural Wisconsin branches in November, and recent tax legislation that will result in a federal income tax refund of $25 to $30 million.

"As the result of those combined actions to improve capital, we would expect that the bank will no longer be deemed significantly undercapitalised for regulatory purposes at the end of 2009," said William McManaman, chairman and chief executive for Amcore.