The president of Farmers State Bank announced Monday that the 102-year-old financial institution has forged an agreement to be sold. The pact is subject to federal approval.

Farmers State Bank has branches in Hartland, Freeborn and Albert Lea and employs 20 people.

President Nancy Skophammer said, in a press release, that Minnesota Community Bancshares Inc. has signed an agreement for the acquisition of Hartland Bancshares, which owns the bank.

Minnesota Community Bancshares is a group led by Daniel Otten and Mark Heinemann, presently officers at Farmers State Bank.

The press release said the approval from banking regulators is expected to be completed in April 2014. A legal notice published Monday in the Tribune.

“We are very excited about the Minnesota Community Bancshares group, and how they plan to continue the strong commitment to the community that Farmers State Bank has established over the past 102 years,” Skophammer said in the press release. “The timing was right for us to pass along the ownership of the bank, and we do so with confidence that the new group will continue to build upon the tremendous success of the past 20 years.”

Otten is CEO of Minnesota Community Bancshares and Heinemann is president. They said they hope to make the transition as seamless as possible for customers and employees.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to acquire Farmers State Bank and are grateful to the Skophammer family for allowing us the opportunity to keep this bank local,” they said in a joint statement.

Farmers State Bank has assets of $97 million. It originated in Hartland in 1912.

Otten and Heinemann said the bank is a leader in deposit market share in Freeborn County and “anticipate the transaction will allow us to grow.”