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MEDIA CONTACT: Jenny Barker 615-319-5857
FINANCIAL CONTACT: Harold Carpenter 615-744-3742
DETAILED FINANCIALS: Full Release

PINNACLE FINANCIAL REPORTS RECORD LOAN GROWTH,
STRONG ASSET QUALITY AND EARNINGS OF $0.26
PER FULLY DILUTED SHARE FOR FIRST QUARTER OF 2008
Fully diluted earnings per share of $0.34, excluding merger related expense

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 14, 2008 - Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. (Nasdaq/NGS: PNFP) today reported strong earnings and continued rapid loan growth for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. Fully diluted earnings per share were $0.26 for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, compared to $0.34 per fully diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. Excluding merger related expense associated with its recent acquisition of Mid-America Bancshares Inc. on Nov. 30, 2007, fully diluted earnings per share were $0.34 for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Pinnacle also reported a record $117 million in organic loan growth in the first quarter of 2008 which contributed to a higher provision for loan loss expense for the first quarter of 2008 when compared to the same quarter last year. Organic loan growth for the first quarter of 2008 represented a 108 percent increase over the $56 million reported in the same quarter of 2007.

FIRST QUARTER 2008 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Earnings:
• Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was $6.1 million, up 8.3 percent from the prior year's first quarter net income of $5.6 million. Excluding merger related expense, net income was $8.0 million up 42.0 percent over the same period last year.
• Revenue (the sum of net interest income and noninterest income) for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, amounted to $35.7 million, compared to $22.1 million for the same quarter of last year, an increase of 61.6 percent.
• Superior credit quality:
• Annualized net charge-offs as a percentage of average loan balances were 0.03 percent for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.
• Nonperforming assets were 0.72 percent of total loans and other real estate at March 31, 2008, compared to 0.78 percent at Dec. 31, 2007, and 0.36 percent at March 31, 2007. Approximately $11.2 million of the $20.7 million of nonperforming assets at March 31, 2008 were attributable to the Mid-America acquisition which closed on Nov. 30 of last year.
• Past due loans over 30 days, excluding nonperforming loans, were 0.77 percent of total loans and other real estate at March 31, 2008, compared to 0.45 percent at Dec. 31, 2007, and 0.33 percent at March 31, 2007.
• Strong balance sheet growth:
• Loans at March 31, 2008, were $2.87 billion, up $1.32 billion from $1.55 billion at March 31, 2007. This increase in loans includes $456 million, or 29.4 percent, in organic growth and $864 million in loans acquired in conjunction with the Mid-America merger.
• Total deposits at March 31, 2008, were $2.97 billion, up $1.27 million from $1.70 billion at March 31, 2007. The increase includes $313 million, or 18.4 percent, in organic growth and $957 million in deposits acquired in conjunction with the Mid-America merger.
• Investments in future growth:
• Pinnacle has hired 23 highly experienced associates for its denovo expansion to Knoxville that was announced on April 9, 2007. Loans outstanding at March 31, 2008, were $159 million which is $28 million ahead of our target disclosed at the time the Knoxville expansion was announced. Pinnacle anticipates opening another full service Knoxville location during the last half of 2008. Costs of the Knoxville expansion negatively impacted earnings in the first quarter of 2008 by approximately $0.02 per fully-diluted share.
• Pinnacle's total associate base at March 31, 2008, was 686 full-time equivalents (FTEs). Approximately 220 FTEs were added to Pinnacle's associate base in conjunction with the Mid-America merger which closed on Nov. 30 of last year. During the quarter ended March 31, 2008, Pinnacle eliminated 19 positions in conjunction with its merger integration plans, substantially all of which occurred subsequent to the systems conversions which occurred on Feb. 29, 2008. Pinnacle also anticipates hiring 40 associates during the remainder of 2008.
• Market Data:
• Based on FDIC market share data as of June 30, 2007, completion of the Mid-America acquisition provides Pinnacle with a No. 4 market share position in the Nashville MSA with only 8.7 percent of deposits leaving significant opportunity for continued dramatic growth. This places Pinnacle behind Regions, SunTrust and Bank of America – all out-of-state regional banks with negative market share trends in Nashville.
• According to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2007 report “Rich States, Poor States – ALEC Laffer State Economic Competitive Index,” Tennessee ranked 5th in the nation on the report’s Economic Outlook rankings.

“Hiring the best, most experienced bankers in our markets continues to give Pinnacle a significant advantage over our competition,” said M. Terry Turner, Pinnacle's president and CEO. “Since inception in 2000, we have recruited more than 300 bankers with an average experience of 24 years. In addition, we have added a large pool of senior professionals through our acquisitions of Cavalry Bancorp in 2006 and Mid-America Bancshares Inc. in 2007. At a time when most banks are experiencing slowing loan demand and increasing credit costs, Pinnacle's first quarter organic loan growth was the largest in the firm's history and our charge-offs were only 0.03 percent of average loans. The loan growth and the strong credit quality are indicators of what a good job our team is doing to outperform in the marketplace and to manage risks in the midst of very challenging economic conditions.”

“Another indicator of the strength of our team was the highly successful and smooth conversion of the two Mid-America subsidiaries, PrimeTrust Bank and Bank of the South to the Pinnacle systems and brand in the first quarter,” said Turner. “We were able to complete the integration with virtually no disruption to service quality and at the same time, produce greater loan growth during the first quarter of 2008 than Pinnacle, PrimeTrust and Bank of the South were able to produce on a pro forma combined basis the same quarter last year.”

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND BALANCE SHEET GROWTH

• Return on average assets for first quarter 2008 was 0.65 percent compared to 1.06 percent for the first quarter of 2007. Excluding the impact of the Knoxville expansion and Mid-America merger related expense, return on average assets for the first quarter of 2008 would have approximated 0.89 percent.
• Return on average stockholders' equity for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, was 5.14 percent compared to 8.76 percent for the first quarter of 2007. Excluding the impact of the Knoxville expansion and Mid-America merger related expense, return on average stockholders' equity for the first quarter of 2008 would have approximated 7.10 percent.
• Return on average tangible stockholders' equity (average stockholders' equity less goodwill and core deposit intangibles) for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, was 11.31 percent. Excluding the impact of the Knoxville expansion and Mid-America merger related expense, return on average tangible stockholders' equity for the first quarter of 2008 would have approximated 15.62 percent.

Total assets grew to $3.89 billion as of March 31, 2008, up $1.70 billion from the $2.19 billion reported at the same time last year. The increase in assets includes $444 million in organic growth and $1.25 billion in assets acquired in conjunction with the Mid-America merger in November of last year. The securities to total assets ratio decreased from 15.51 percent at March 31, 2007, to 13.00 percent at March 31, 2008.

CREDIT QUALITY

• Provision for loan losses was $1.59 million for the first quarter of 2008, compared to $788,000 in the first quarter of 2007.
• During the first quarter of 2008, the firm recorded net charge-offs of $190,000, compared to net charge-offs of $114,000 during the same period in 2007. Annualized net charge-offs to total average loans were 0.03 percent for the quarters ended March 31, 2008, and March 31, 2007.
• The increase in provision for loan loss expense between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2007 was primarily due to the increase in loan balances recorded during the first quarter of 2008 over the amount recorded in the first quarter of 2007.
• Allowance for loan losses represented 1.04 percent of total loans at March 31, 2008, compared to 1.08 percent a year ago.
• The ratio of the allowance for loan losses to nonperforming loans was 174 percent at March 31, 2008, compared to 145 percent at Dec. 31, 2007, and 357 percent at March 31, 2007.

"Although Nashville's residential real estate market overall is not as vibrant when compared to a year ago, the decline has not been as great as in other large urban markets in the Southeast and around the country. We are pleased that the results of increased monitoring and oversight of our real estate practices and portfolio are helping to ensure we maintain our asset quality metrics," said Turner.

As noted above, Pinnacle reported that nonperforming loans and other real estate as a percentage of total loans and other real estate decreased from 0.78 percent at Dec. 31, 2007, to 0.72 percent at March 31, 2008. The following is a summary of the activity in various nonperforming asset categories for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 (in thousands):

REVENUE

• Net interest income for first quarter 2008 was $27.4 million, compared to $17.1 million for the same quarter last year, an increase of 60.2 percent.
• Net interest margin for the first quarter of 2008 was 3.37 percent, compared to a net interest margin of 3.64 percent for the same period last year.
• Noninterest income for first quarter 2008 was $8.4 million, a 66.5 percent increase over the $5.0 million recorded during the same quarter in 2007.

“We anticipated the decrease in our margin during the first quarter of 2008,” said Harold Carpenter, chief financial officer of Pinnacle Financial Partners. “We have traditionally maintained an asset sensitive balance sheet; thus with anticipated future Federal funds rate decreases, we believe our margins could continue to contract dependent upon the timing and extent of the future rate decreases. We will continue to work to mitigate the impact of these decreases by reducing the cost of our funding sources to the extent possible. Additionally, our loan pipelines remain robust, which should provide increased core revenue growth in future periods.”

The 66.5 percent increase in noninterest income between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2007 was due primarily to increased noninterest income from the Mid-America merger, record investment sales commissions from Pinnacle Asset Management and record gains on the sales of mortgage loans from the firm's mortgage origination unit. During the first quarter of 2008, Pinnacle's mortgage origination unit sold $59.8 million of mortgage loans compared to $31.0 million in 2007, an increase of 92.5 percent.

Noninterest income during the first quarter of 2008 represented approximately 23.4 percent of total revenues, compared to 22.7 percent for the same quarter in 2007.

NONINTEREST EXPENSE

• Noninterest expense for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, was $25.5 million ($22.4 million, excluding merger expenses) compared to $13.1 million in the first quarter of 2007. Approximately $814,000 of noninterest expense was associated with the Knoxville expansion.
• Compensation expense increased to $13.9 million during the first quarter of 2008, compared to $8.3 million during the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 67.7 percent. Total full-time equivalent employees were 686.0 at March 31, 2008, compared to 702.0 at Dec. 31, 2007 and 419.5 at March 31, 2007.
• Merger related expense was $3.1 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2008, and was composed primarily of $1.4 million in retention bonus accruals for former Mid-America associates, $876,000 in conversion related incentive payments and other personnel costs, $637,000 in information technology conversion matters and $148,000 in other integration charges.
• The efficiency ratio (noninterest expense divided by net interest income and noninterest income) was 71.4 percent during the first quarter of 2008 compared to 62.1 percent for the fourth quarter of 2007 and 59.4 percent in the first quarter of 2007. Excluding merger related expenses, the efficiency ratio was 62.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

Carpenter noted that linked quarter expense growth of $7.7 million between the fourth quarter of 2007 and first quarter of 2008 was primarily attributable to increased expenses from the Mid-America merger as Mid-America was in effect for a full quarter versus one month in the fourth quarter of 2007. Other causes for the increased expense in the first quarter of 2008 were the firm’s traditional salary increases virtually all of which occur in January of each year and increasing variable costs associated with the dramatic growth of the firm.

PROGRESS OF THE MID-AMERICA ACQUISITION

On Aug. 15, 2007, Pinnacle reported that the firm had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the stock of Mid-America Bancshares Inc., a two-bank holding company headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., with assets of approximately $1.1 billion. Pinnacle completed the acquisition of Mid-America on Nov. 30, 2007.

“At this point, we have completed or planned actions that should enable us to achieve our $7 million first-year synergy target,” said Turner. “We were extraordinarily successful in the recently completed systems conversions that occurred over the weekend of March 1, 2008.” Turner noted key success measures were:

• on-time completion of the training schedule,
• on-time systems conversions,
• Host system up-time during the month of March of 99.85 percent, and
• less than $15,000 in operational outages related to the conversion.

INVESTMENT OUTLOOK

Management has developed several financial forecast scenarios for the next several quarters. Based on anticipated growth trends and future investments in the franchise, including the impact of the Knoxville expansion, Pinnacle estimates its second quarter 2008 diluted earnings per share will approximate $0.32 to $0.36 including merger related expense or $0.36 to $0.40, excluding merger related expense and that its 2008 diluted earnings per share will approximate $1.44 to $1.53 including merger related expense or $1.56 to $1.65, excluding merger related expense. Pinnacle noted that its second quarter 2008 results will also be impacted by yet to be realized synergies from Mid-America.

Merger related expense should approximate $4.75 million for the remainder of 2008 with substantially all of the amount being attributable to retention awards for former Mid-America associates. Pinnacle anticipates no additional Mid-America merger related expense after 2008. As a result, total merger related expense and other transaction costs associated with the Mid-America merger should approximate the original estimate of $19.1 million.

As noted previously, management has developed several scenarios under which these estimates can be achieved and believes these estimates to be reasonable based on these scenarios. However, unanticipated events or developments, including the development of any markets other than metropolitan Nashville or Knoxville, any merger or acquisition, the opportunity to hire more seasoned professionals than anticipated, increased volatility in interest rates, continued deterioration in national or local economic conditions that impact our borrowers' ability to repay their loans or the ability to grow loans significantly in excess of the levels contemplated, may cause the actual results of Pinnacle to differ materially from these estimates.

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for small- to mid-sized businesses and their owners, real estate professionals and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. Comprehensive wealth management services, such as financial planning and trust, help clients increase, protect and distribute their assets. The firm also has a well-established expertise in commercial real estate.

The firm began operations in a single downtown Nashville location in October 2000 and has since grown to $3.9 billion in assets. In 2007 Pinnacle launched an expansion into Knoxville, another high growth MSA. The addition of Mid-America has made Pinnacle the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, with 31 offices in eight Middle Tennessee counties and two in Knoxville.

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Certain of the statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but other statements not based on historical information may also be considered forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other facts that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Pinnacle to differ materially from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, (i) unanticipated deterioration in the financial condition of borrowers resulting in significant increases in loan losses and provisions for those losses, (ii) the inability of Pinnacle to continue to grow its loan portfolio at historic rates in the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA or projected rates in the Knoxville MSA, (iii) increased competition with other financial institutions, (iv) lack of sustained growth in the economy in the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA and the Knoxville MSA, (v) rapid fluctuations or unanticipated changes in interest rates, (vi) the inability of Pinnacle to satisfy regulatory requirements for its expansion plans, (vii) the inability of Pinnacle to execute its expansion plans and (viii) changes in state and Federal legislation or regulations applicable to financial services providers, including banks. Additionally, risk factors exist in connection with Pinnacle’s merger with Mid-America including, among others, (1) the risk that the cost savings and any revenue synergies from the merger may not be realized or take longer than anticipated, (2) disruption from the merger with customers, suppliers or employee relationships, and (3) the risk of successful integration of the two companies’ businesses. Many of such factors are beyond Pinnacle's ability to control or predict, and readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Pinnacle disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.