Pinnacle Financial Partners Announces 1Q17 Dividend

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (Nasdaq/NGS: PNFP) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a $0.14 per share cash dividend to be paid on May 26, 2017 to common shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 5, 2017.

The amount and timing of all future dividend payments will be subject to the discretion of Pinnacle’s Board of Directors.

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for businesses and their owners and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. The firm earned a place on Fortune’s 2017 list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the U.S., and American Banker recognized Pinnacle as the sixth-best bank to work for in 2016.

The firm began operations in a single downtown Nashville location in October 2000 and has since grown to approximately $11.7 billion in assets at March 31, 2017. As the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, Pinnacle operates in the state’s four largest markets, Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga, as well as several surrounding counties.

Additional information concerning Pinnacle, which is included in the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index, can be accessed at www.pnfp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. The words "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but other statements not based on historical information may also be considered forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the statements, including, but not limited to: (i) deterioration in the financial condition of borrowers resulting in significant increases in loan losses and provisions for those losses; (ii) continuation of the historically low short-term interest rate environment; (iii) the inability of Pinnacle Financial, or entities in which it has significant investments, like BHG, to maintain the historical growth rate of its, or such entities', loan portfolio; (iv) changes in loan underwriting, credit review or loss reserve policies associated with economic conditions, examination conclusions, or regulatory developments; (v) effectiveness of Pinnacle Financial’s asset management activities in improving, resolving or liquidating lower-quality assets; (vi) increased competition with other financial institutions; (vii) greater than anticipated adverse conditions in the national or local economies including the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA, the Knoxville MSA, the Chattanooga, TN-GA MSA and the Memphis, TN-MS-AR MSA, particularly in commercial and residential real estate markets; (viii) rapid fluctuations or unanticipated changes in interest rates on loans or deposits; (ix) the results of regulatory examinations; (x) the ability to retain large, uninsured deposits; (xi) a merger or acquisition, like Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC; (xii) risks of expansion into new geographic or product markets; (xiii) any matter that would cause Pinnacle Financial to conclude that there was impairment of any asset, including intangible assets; (xiv) reduced ability to attract additional financial advisors (or failure of such advisors to cause their clients to switch to Pinnacle Bank), to retain financial advisors or otherwise to attract customers from other financial institutions; (xv) further deterioration in the valuation of other real estate owned and increased expenses associated therewith; (xvi) inability to comply with regulatory capital requirements, including those resulting from changes to capital calculation methodologies and required capital maintenance levels; (xvii) risks associated with litigation, including the applicability of insurance coverage; (xviii) the risk of successful integration of the businesses Pinnacle Financial has recently acquired with its business; (xix) approval of the declaration of any dividend by Pinnacle Financial’s board of directors; (xx) the vulnerability of Pinnacle Bank’s network and online banking portals to unauthorized access, computer viruses, phishing schemes, spam attacks, human error, natural disasters, power loss and other security breaches; (xxi) the possibility of increased compliance costs as a result of increased regulatory oversight, including oversight of companies in which Pinnacle Financial or Pinnacle Bank have significant investments, like BHG, and the development of additional banking products for Pinnacle Bank’s corporate and consumer clients; (xxii) the risks associated with Pinnacle Financial and Pinnacle Bank being a minority investor in BHG, including the risk that the owners of a majority of the equity interests in BHG decide to sell the company if not prohibited from doing so by the terms of our agreement with them; (xxiii) the possibility that the incremental cost and/or decreased revenues associated with exceeding $10 billion in assets will exceed current estimates; (xxiv) changes in state and federal legislation, regulations or policies applicable to banks and other financial service providers, like BHG, including regulatory or legislative developments; (xxv) the risk that the cost savings and any revenue synergies from Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC may not be realized or take longer than anticipated to be realized; (xxvi) disruption from Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC with customers, suppliers, employee or other business partners relationships; (xxvii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement between Pinnacle Financial and BNC; (xxviii) the risk of successful integration of Pinnacle Financial’s and BNC’s businesses; (xxix) the failure to obtain the necessary approvals by Pinnacle Financial and BNC shareholders; (xxx) the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC; (xxxi) reputational risk and the reaction of the parties' customers, suppliers, employees or other business partners to Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC; (xxxii) the failure of the closing conditions with respect to Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC to be satisfied, or any unexpected delay in closing the proposed merger; (xxxiii) the risk that the integration of Pinnacle Financial’s and BNC's operations will be materially delayed or will be more costly or difficult than expected; (xxxiv) the possibility that Pinnacle Financial’s proposed merger with BNC may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events; (xxxv) the dilution caused by Pinnacle Financial’s issuance of additional shares of its common stock in its proposed merger with BNC; and (xxxvi) general competitive, economic, political and market conditions. Additional factors which could affect the forward looking statements can be found in Pinnacle Financial’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, or BNC's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, in each case filed with the SEC and available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. Pinnacle Financial and BNC disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, which speak only as of the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Matters

This release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures, including, without limitation, net income, earnings per diluted share, efficiency ratio, core net interest margin, noninterest expense and the ratio of noninterest expense to average assets and noninterest expense to the sum of net interest income and noninterest income, in each case excluding the impact of expenses related to other real estate owned, gains or losses on sale of investments, FHLB prepayments and other matters for the accounting periods presented. This release also includes non-GAAP financial measures which exclude expenses associated with Pinnacle Bank’s mergers with CapitalMark Bank & Trust, Magna Bank, Avenue Financial Holdings, Inc. and BNC, as well as Pinnacle Financial’s and its bank subsidiary’s investments in BHG. This release may also contain certain other non-GAAP capital ratios and performance measures. These non-GAAP financial measures exclude the impact of goodwill and core deposit intangibles associated with Pinnacle Financial’s acquisitions of Avenue, which Pinnacle Financial acquired on July 1, 2016, Magna Bank which Pinnacle Bank acquired on September 1, 2015, CapitalMark Bank & Trust which Pinnacle Bank acquired on July 31, 2015, Mid-America Bancshares, Inc. which Pinnacle Financial acquired on November 30, 2007, Cavalry Bancorp, Inc., which Pinnacle Financial acquired on March 15, 2006 and other acquisitions which collectively are less material to the non-GAAP measure. The presentation of the non-GAAP financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for any measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. Because non-GAAP financial measures presented in this release are not measurements determined in accordance with GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, these non-GAAP financial measures, as presented, may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures presented by other companies.

Pinnacle Financial believes that these non-GAAP financial measures facilitate making period-to-period comparisons and are meaningful indications of its operating performance. In addition, because intangible assets such as goodwill and the core deposit intangible, and the other items excluded each vary extensively from company to company, Pinnacle Financial believes that the presentation of this information allows investors to more easily compare Pinnacle Financial’s results to the results of other companies. Pinnacle Financial’s management utilizes this non-GAAP financial information to compare Pinnacle Financial’s operating performance for 2017 versus certain periods in 2016 and to internally prepared projections.

Additional Information About the Proposed Transaction and Where to Find It

Investors and security holders are urged to carefully review and consider each of Pinnacle Financial's and BNC's public filings with the SEC, including but not limited to their Annual Reports on Form 10-K, their proxy statements, their Current Reports on Form 8-K and their Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

The documents filed by Pinnacle Financial with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at Pinnacle Financial's website at www.pnfp.com, under the heading "About Pinnacle" and the subheading "Investor Relations," or at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. These documents may also be obtained free of charge from Pinnacle Financial by requesting them in writing to Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc., 150 Third Avenue South, Suite 900, Nashville, Tennessee 37201, Attention: Investor Relations, or by telephone at (615) 744-3700.

The documents filed by BNC with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at BNC's website at www.bncbanking.com under the "Investor Relations" section, or at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. These documents may also be obtained free of charge from BNC by requesting them in writing to BNC Bancorp, 3980 Premier Drive, Suite 210, High Point, North Carolina 27265, Attention: Investor Relations, or by telephone at (336) 869-9200.

In connection with the proposed transaction, Pinnacle Financial has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC which includes a preliminary joint proxy statement of Pinnacle Financial and BNC and a preliminary prospectus of Pinnacle Financial, and each party will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders of Pinnacle Financial and BNC are urged to carefully read the entire registration statement and the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus, when they become available, as well as any amendments or supplements to these documents and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. A definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to the shareholders of each institution seeking the required shareholder approvals. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus free of charge from the SEC's website or from Pinnacle Financial or BNC as described in the paragraphs above.

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Participants in the Solicitation

Pinnacle Financial, BNC and certain of their directors and executive officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from Pinnacle Financial's and BNC's shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Pinnacle Financial and their ownership of Pinnacle Financial common stock is set forth in the definitive proxy statement for Pinnacle Financial's 2017 annual meeting of shareholders, as previously filed with the SEC on March 9, 2017, and other documents subsequently filed by Pinnacle Financial with the SEC. Information about the directors and executive officers of BNC and their ownership of BNC's common stock is set forth in Amendment No. 1 to BNC's 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K, as previously filed with the SEC on March 24, 2017, and other documents subsequently filed by BNC with the SEC. Shareholders may obtain additional information regarding the interests of such participants by reading the registration statement and the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus. Free copies of these documents may be obtained as described in the paragraphs above.

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Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc.

Media Contact:

Nikki Minges, 615-743-6132

or

Financial Contact:

Harold Carpenter, 615-744-3742

www.pnfp.com

Source: Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc.