Activist investor drops recent proxy battle threats

November 7, 2025 4:07 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: HoldCo Asset Management says it won't pursue proxy battles against Columbia Banking System or First Interstate; Cape Cod's Mutual Bancorp plans to add Bluestone Bank to its roster; Servbank HoldCo prepares to acquire IF Bancorp; and more.

HoldCo Asset Management, the activist investor that's been putting lots of heat on certain regional banks, said it will not pursue proxy battles against Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Washington, or First Interstate BancSystem in Billings, Montana.

Both banks responded sufficiently last week to HoldCo's requests to swear off mergers and acquisitions and use excess capital to repurchase their shares, HoldCo said this week in separate updates about each company.

While the activist group has some lingering concerns, it said it will "lay down [its] arms," though it warned that it will "not hesitate to take any action that we deem necessary to protect the rights of shareholders and drive value, including the potential pursuit of a proxy contest and/or advocating for a sale of the company."

HoldCo has ramped up its focus on certain banks in recent months. In July, it called for Comerica in Dallas to sell itself. The bank has since agreed to be acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati. —Allissa Kline

Servbank announces acquisition of Illinois rival bank

Servbank HoldCo in Oswego, Illinois, plans to acquire IF Bancorp, the parent company of Iroquois Federal Savings and Loan Association, for $89.8 million in cash.

Pending regulatory and shareholder approval, the deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2026, the two banks announced in a press release.

IF Bancorp is headquartered about 90 miles southeast of Servbank's headquarters. It had $887.7 million assets as of June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Servbank was slightly larger, with $932.3 billion of assets as of the same date.

The transaction will help Servbank "strategically expand" into central Illinois, it said in the press release. IF Bancorp has seven branches in Illinois and one in Missouri.

As a result of the acquisition announcement, IF Bancorp said it would indefinitely postpone its 2025 annual shareholder meeting. —Allissa Kline

Mass. bank holding company to acquire another bank

Mutual Bancorp, the Cape Cod-based holding company of Cape Cod 5 and Fidelity Bank, plans to add another bank to its roster with the pending acquisition of Bluestone Bank in Raynham, Massachusetts, it announced in a press release.

The combined entity will have $8.6 billion of assets, and make Mutual the largest mutual bank in New England and the third largest in the country, according to the press release.

Pending regulatory approval, the deal is expected to be finalized during the third quarter of 2026. Meg McIsaac, the president and CEO of the $1.6 billion-asset Bluestone, will become co-president and vice chair of Mutual's board of trustees. In addition, two members of Bluestone's board will join Mutual's board. —Allissa Kline

NYC’s Mamdani names ex-FTC Chief Lina Khan to transition team

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani tapped former FTC Chair Lina Khan to his transition team, a figure who raised the ire of big businesses and dealmakers with her tough approach to antitrust cases.

Khan, who Mamdani named as one of four co-chairs of the transition team, will advise the mayor elect on economic policy and personnel, according to her spokesperson Douglas Farrar.

As chair under former President Joe Biden, Khan brought major cases, sometimes unsuccessfully, against the tech giants including Amazon, Meta and Microsoft. Under her leadership, the agency blocked mergers between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons and pushed for a ban on noncompete agreements that block workers from switching jobs — a popular rule that was later blocked by federal courts.

"I think what we saw last night was New Yorkers not just electing a new mayor, but clearly rejecting a politics where outsize corporate power and money too often end up dictating our politics, and a clear mandate for change," Khan said at the press conference Wednesday. –Nacha Cattan and Leah Nylen, Bloomberg News

Bank of America names new leaders for UK investment banking

Bank of America has picked new leaders for its U.K. investment banking as the Wall Street bank looks to deepen its footprint in the region.

James Robertson is becoming head of U.K. corporate and investment banking, in addition to his existing role as co-head of technology, media and telecom investment banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.

Duncan Stewart and Stephen Little are picked as co-heads of U.K. investment banking. Little will remain as co-head of EMEA real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking, alongside Struan Robertson.

Peter Luck has been appointed chair of U.K. and Ireland investment banking and corporate broking. Luck, who joined the firm in 2012, will report to Jeff Tannenbaum, head of corporate and investment banking in EMEA.

A representative for Bank of America confirmed the content of the memo. —Vinicy Chan and Swetha Gopinath, Bloomberg News

Goldman taps lowest share of female MDs since Solomon became CEO

Goldman Sachs is promoting the smallest proportion of women to managing director since Chief Executive Officer David Solomon took the top job in 2018. Women comprise 27% of Goldman's new managing director class, according to numbers released by the firm Thursday. That compares with 31% in the last set of managing director promotions in 2023.

It also breaks a trend of consistent growth since 2017, when the figure was 24%.

In February, the bank abandoned a pledge it made to refuse initial public offering business from companies that had all white, male boards, following its peers in adjusting to demands from the new Trump administration.

In a wave of senior promotions earlier this year, Solomon also reduced the proportion of women on the bank's management committee — its top decision-making group — to 22% from 25%. Only one of its roughly dozen promotions in the investment bank was a woman. —Todd Gillespie, Bloomberg News