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Activist investors continue to stir up community banking and M&A. ISS advised Hampden Bancorp shareholders to support an investor group that wants to push the thrift to sell itself, but Egan-Jones says the new CEO deserves more time.
November 4 -
Solera National Bancorp (SLRK) is firing back against two investors seeking control of the Lakewood, Colo., company's board.
April 25 -
Solera National Bancorp (SLRK) in Lakewood, Colo., reported a quarterly loss less than a month before it will face a pair of shareholder challenges at its annual meeting.
April 29 -
Solera National Bancorp's annual meeting is quickly shaping up to be a free-for-all.
March 25 -
Solera National Bancorp (SLRK) is being challenged by a former director who wants to wrest control of the Lakewood, Colo., company's board.
March 24
A pair of leading proxy advisory firms is divided over what Solera National Bancorp (SLRK) shareholders should do at next week's annual meeting.
Glass-Lewis recently recommended that investors reject a slate of nominees from Michael Quagliano, the Lakewood, Colo.,
ISS also declined to throw its support behind
Solera's annual meeting is quickly turning into a circus, and the proxy firms have certainly helped to set the stage. Glass-Lewis took aim at the
Quagliano, who owns 23.3% of Solera's stock, has nominated six people, including himself, to join the board. He also has a proposal to shrink the board to five directors. Of those, only Jackson Lounsberry has banking experience listed in Quagliano's filings. The line-up prompted Glass-Lewis to accuse Quagliano of the "brazen intent to craft a board wholly beholden to his own perspectives."
Quagliano has said in prior letters to shareholders that he wants to cut board compensation and launch a companywide review of salaries, while exploring the addition of mobile payment services. Quagliano and Stout have taken issue with the company's underperformance and poor managerial decisions. Both have pointed to restructuring charges Solera incurred after scrapping plans for two branches.
"There is evidence of underperformance and serious governance concerns at the company," ISS said in a portion of its report included in Quagliano's filing. ISS also noted that Solera "underperformed its peers" last year in areas such as return on assets, return on equity and net interest margin.
Solera
Two of Stout's nominees have banking experience. Dianne Andrews retired as market president at Vectra Bank in Durango, Colo., in 2006. Basil Blume is a consultant who once served as chief operating officer and treasurer at CIC Bancshares.
Stout, who used to oversee Solera's mortgage operations, was terminated last year as part of a cost-cutting effort. She has indicated that one of her objectives is reclaiming her job at the $168 million-asset company.