**UNITED STATES**

**SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION**

**Washington, DC 20549**

 

**FORM 8-K**

 

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

**DATE OF REPORT (Date of earliest event reported): July 29, 2009**

 

**FIRST MERCHANTS CORPORATION**

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

| INDIANA                                        | 0-17071                  | 35-544218                         |
|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) | (Commission File number) | (IRS Employer Identification No.) |

 

**200 East Jackson Street**

**P.O. Box 792**

**Muncie, IN 47305-2814**

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

 

**(765) 747-1500**

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

 

**Not Applicable**

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

**o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)**

**o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)**

**o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))**

**o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))**

 

----

 

**ITEM 8.01 OTHER EVENTS**

 

On July 29, 2009, First Merchants Corporation issued a press release announcing the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share. The cash dividend is payable on September 18, 2009 to stockholders of record as of September 4, 2009. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

The information in this Form 8-K and the attached exhibit shall not be deemed "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a            filing.

 

**ITEM 9.01 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS.**

 

| (a) | Not applicable. |
|-----|-----------------|

 

| (b) | Not applicable. |
|-----|-----------------|

 

| (c) | Exhibits. |
|-----|-----------|

 

Exhibit 99.1 Press Release, dated July 29, 2009, issued by First Merchants Corporation

 

----

**SIGNATURES**

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

First Merchants Corporation

(Registrant)

 

|   | By: /s/ Mark K. Hardwick |
|--------|--------------------------|

|   | Mark K. Hardwick |
|--------|------------------|

|   | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
|--------|------------------------------------------------------|

|   | (Principal Financial and Principal Accounting Officer) |
|--------|--------------------------------------------------------|

 

 

Dated: July 29, 2009

 

 

----

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No.

 

|   | 99.1 | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|

 

|   | Press Release, dated July 29, 2009, issued by First Merchants Corporation. |
|--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

 

----

 

 

 

 

| **N / E / W / S** | **R / E / L / E / A / S / E** |
|-------------------|-------------------------------|

 

July 29, 2009

 

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

For more information, contact:

Mark K. Hardwick, Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer, 765-751-1857

http://www.firstmerchants.com

 

SOURCE: First Merchants Corporation (Nasdaq: FRME), Muncie, Indiana

 

**FIRST MERCHANTS CORPORATION ANNOUNCES QUARTERLY CASH DIVIDEND**

 

At its meeting held on July 28, 2009, the Board of Directors of First Merchants Corporation declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share on its common stock.

 

The cash dividend is payable September 18, 2009, to stockholders of record September 4, 2009. For purposes of broker trading, the ex-date of the cash dividend is September 2, 2009.

 

About First Merchants Corporation

 

First Merchants Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Muncie, Indiana. Subsidiaries of the Corporation include First Merchants Bank, N.A., and First Merchants Bank of Central Indiana, N.A., Lafayette Bank & Trust Company, N.A., Commerce National Bank, and First Merchants Trust Company, N.A. The Corporation also operates First Merchants Insurance Services, a            full-service property casualty, personal lines, and healthcare insurance agency.

 

First Merchants Corporation’s common stock is traded over-the-counter on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol FRME. Quotations are carried in daily newspapers and can be found on the company's Internet web page (http://www.firstmerchants.com).

 

* * * *