Carver's Board Officially Rejects Takeover Bid by Wall Streeter

New York's Carver Federal Savings Bank formally rejected erstwhile investment banker Joseph Curry's bid for a controlling stake in the minority-owned thrift.

Mr. Curry, meanwhile, has disappeared from view and hasn't contacted Carver officials since he delivered his surprise offer just a day before Carver's annual meeting three weeks ago.

Mr. Curry had demanded a postponement of the annual meeting so that Carver's board could consider his offer to buy 35% of the outstanding stock at $9.20 a share - a 15% market premium at the time. The meeting went ahead anyway, shareholders approved the formation of a holding company, and Carver's board promised to consider the offer in due course at its next regular board meeting.

That meeting took place Tuesday, and the board flatly rejected Mr. Curry's offer. Carver's stock ended the day up 12 cents, at $8.25.

"This is an independent thrift, and our business plan calls for us to pursue that strategy," said chief executive Thomas L. Clark Jr. "Our position in this community is unique, and we plan to leverage it for the benefit of our shareholders and our customers."

Mr. Curry could not be reached for comment. Several sources within the New York investment community - he used to work at Bear, Stearns & Co. - did not know of his plans or who his investors might be.

What Mr. Curry did succeed at, however, was creating a minor media frenzy about the future of Carver - with $362 million in assets the largest minority-owned thrift in the country and an important economic pillar of the Bronx and Harlem.

Mr. Curry disparaged Carver's management in several New York newspapers and indicated there would be a hostile battle for the future of the thrift. Though Mr. Curry was right about Carver's performance - it has underperformed for several years but has shown recent improvement - the battle never even started.

"It's unfortunate we had to take our valuable time to deal with the public relations of it all," Mr. Clark said. "We plan our annual meetings months in advance. Suddenly here comes this unknown person who, after the end of business hours, delivers an offer to take control of the company. The community thought we were in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt. The media played this up without doing research on Mr. Curry or who his investors are. We still don't know."

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