Ameriana Bancorp Sells Stake in Indiana Title Insurance Company

January 5, 2009

NEW CASTLE, Ind. -- Ameriana Bancorp, parent company of Ameriana Bank, SB, announced that the Company, along with joint-venture partners First Merchants Corporation and Mutual First Financial, has closed on an agreement to sell the assets of Indiana Title Insurance Company ("ITIC") to IN Title Company, a newly formed company led by current ITIC executives.

Ameriana's ownership interest in ITIC is 20.94%. The Company expects to incur a loss of approximately $225,000 on the sale of this interest, which will be reported in its fourth quarter 2008 results.

ITIC has offices in New Castle and Muncie.

Commenting on the announcement, Jerome J. Gassen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ameriana Bancorp, said, "As part of our continued efforts to strengthen our commercial focus and reach new markets, we have made the decision to dispose of our interest in this business that is, at best, ancillary to our primary banking operations. We intend to redeploy the capital from this business to support more attractive growth opportunities in our core operations."


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