Sunshine Financial in Fla. Appoints Activist's Nominee to Board

Sunshine Financial in Tallahassee, Fla., has agreed to name a new board member in exchange for a truce with an activist investor.

The $152 million-asset company has named Corissa Brigli a director, it said in a news release Monday. Sunshine expanded its board by one seat to add Brigli. Sunshine will also appoint Brigli to the board of Sunshine Savings Bank, after approval of its conversion to a state-chartered bank from a federal thrift charter.

Brigli was nominated by Joseph Stilwell, a New York activist investor who owns a 9.4% stake in Sunshine. Stilwell last year demanded Sunshine increase its rate of stock buybacks, according to a regulatory filing. In exchange for Sunshine's appointment of Briglia, Stilwell agreed to refrain from opposing management proxy proposals, seeking a sale of the company or attempting to place additional directors on the board.

Brigli is employed by Stilwell's firm, the Stilwell Group, to evaluate and monitor its investments in community banks.

Sunshine last year restated earnings for its first and second quarters after it discovered an accounting error. The restatement lowered Sunshine's net income by 19 cents per share for the two quarters combined.

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