First Farmers preps public goodbye

The leaders of one of the region's largest community banks are preparing to take the company private, saying the benefits of having public paper don't justify the costs.

The directors of First Farmers and Merchants Corp. have approved a plan to buy out shareholders -- likely next spring -- who own fewer than 400 shares of the company, which has $1.2 billion in assets and runs 19 offices in eight Middle Tennessee counties. The cash buyout plan would trim to fewer than 1,200 First Farmers' investor base -- from about 2,000 now -- which would relieve execs of Securities and Exchange Commission filing requirements and result in "significant savings in legal, accounting and administrative expenses."