HORIZON BANCORP INC /IN/ appointed Thomas M. Prame as new CEO

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors and Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.


Appointment of Thomas M. Prame as Chief Executive Officer


On January 17, 2023, the Board approved the appointment of Thomas M. Prame to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of both Horizon Bancorp, Inc. ("Horizon Bancorp" or the "Company") and its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Horizon Bank, effective as of June 1, 2023. Mr. Prame currently serves as the President of both Horizon Bancorp and Horizon Bank and on the Board of Directors of Horizon Bank and will continue to serve in all of those positions in addition to his new role as Chief Executive Officer.


Mr. Prame will succeed Craig M. Dwight as the long-time CEO of both Horizon Bancorp and Horizon Bank. Mr. Dwight will continue to serve as CEO until June 1, 2023 and will continue to serve as Chairman of both organizations thereafter. Mr. Dwight will retire as an employee of the Company effective as of July 3, 2023, which will trigger the retirement provisions of his employment agreement. Mr. Dwight has been an employee at the Company since 1998 and has served as the CEO since 2001 and Chairman of the Board since 2013. Mr. Dwight has also served on the Board of Directors of Horizon and Horizon Bank since 1998..


As previously disclosed in connection with the hiring of Mr. Prame as the President of Horizon Bancorp and Horizon Bank in August of 2022, prior to joining the Company, Mr. Prame held a variety of executive officer positions of increasing responsibility at First Midwest Bancorp, since joining First Midwest Bancorp in 2012, and most recently served as the Executive Vice President and CEO of Community Banking. Prior to joining First Midwest Bancorp, he held senior level retail bank positions with RBS Citizens Bank, Colonial Bank, CitiMortgage and Fifth Third Bank. Mr. Prame received his MBA in finance from the University of Notre Dame and his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Rochester.


On January 18, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing the appointment of Mr. Prame as the Chief Executive Officer. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.