Bond Street to Pay Merger Bonuses to Two Atlantic Coast Execs

Bond Street Holdings has offered jobs and merger-related payouts to two Atlantic Coast Financial (ACFC) executives — but not the president and chief executive — once the Florida companies complete their deal.

Bond Street has invited Atlantic Coast's chief financial officer, Thomas Wagers, and chief risk officer, Phillip Buddenbohm, to stay on after it buys Atlantic Coast, according to a proxy filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thomas Frankland, the president and chief executive, will not be offered continued employment.

Wagers and Buddenbohm would be paid bonuses if they remain with Bond Street for 60 days following the sale. Wagers would receive $645,848 in merger-related compensation, and Buddenbohm would get $135,000. Wagers' annual salary following the merger would be $178,000, and Buddenbohm's would be $135,000.

In February the $3.2 billion-asset Bond Street agreed to pay $13 million for the $784 million-asset Atlantic coast, with 40% of the all-cash sale price held in escrow to cover the cost of any shareholder litigation.

Former Atlantic Coast Chairman Jay Sidhu, who still owns a stake in the company, bashed the deal in a letter to the board last week.

"We do not believe that the terms … are fair to, or in the best interest of, ACFC's stockholders," Sidhu wrote in the March 26 letter. "We also do not believe that the process the board followed in considering and approving the merger was adequate."

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

Wagers' and Buddenbohm's employment offers were first reported in the Jacksonville Business Journal.