Shareholder activist Jerome H. Davis is urging the board of directors of Mutual Bancompany to sell the $60 million-asset company.
"It appears our company is terribly ill," he said in a Jan. 31 letter to Mutual's board. The Greenwich, Conn.-based investor cited low earnings and high operating expenses as signs of the institution's problems.
"A merger partner for our company must be found," he wrote.
Mr. Davis, who with his wife owns 10% of Mutual, proposed the merger in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The move comes a year after Mutual went public - the minimum amount of time that must pass after an initial public offering before the thrift can legally be sold.
Mr. Davis has urged mergers on several recently converted thrifts in the last year, including Security Federal Bancorp, Tuscaloosa, Ala., which he contacted last month.
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LITITZ, Pa. - Susquehanna Bancshares has completed its $62.6 million acquisition of Fairfax Financial Corp., Baltimore, after conducting a common stock and senior note offering.
The purchase increases Susquehanna's assets to $3.05 billion, with 106 branches in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The $469 million-asset Fairfax will be operated through a separate subsidiary of Susquehanna set up to run the company's three Maryland banks, all purchased within the last year. Susquehanna bought Atlanfed Bancorp last March and Reisterstown Holdings Inc. in April.
Susquehanna had raised $34.45 million from a common stock offering and also offered up to $35 million of senior notes, due Feb. 1, 2003.
Remaining proceeds from the offerings will be used for general corporate purposes.
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MONTPELIER, Vt. - The state banking department has become the 35th state to win accreditation from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.
The Department of Banking, Insurance and Securities regulates banks, savings banks, thrifts, credit unions and other financial services providers. The department oversees 16 state-chartered banks with $5.4 billion in assets.
The trade group for state regulators certified the state agency after reviewing the department's missions, policies, procedures, funding, and statutory authority.
- Jonathan D. Epstein
