Second Activist Investor Throws Support Behind New Malvern Chief

The new chief executive at Malvern Bancorp in Paoli, Pa., has won over another activist investor.

Stilwell Group in New York disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that it had terminated a standstill agreement reached with the $542 million-asset company in October 2013. The group, controlled by Joseph Stilwell, said in the filing that it believed the agreement was no longer necessary after meeting with Anthony Weagley, who became CEO in September, and George Steinmetz, who was named chairman a month later.

"We believe that management and the board … are now focused on maximizing shareholder value," the filing added.

The standstill agreement allowed Stilwell to place John O'Grady on Malvern's board in February. The filing noted the O'Grady will remain a director.

Stilwell Group had agreed to stop fighting Malvern's management through early 2017. The company, meanwhile, agreed to hire an investment bank and seek "reasonable alternatives" if it failed to provide an above-average return on equity in its fiscal years that end in 2015 and 2016.

Malvern is no longer being held to the performance targets, Stilwell Group said in its filing.

Ronald Anderson resigned as Malvern's CEO shortly after the standstill agreement was reached. After several months, the company hired Weagley, a former CEO at Center Bancorp in New Jersey, to replace Anderson. Within a few weeks, Steinmetz had replaced F. Claire Hughes as chairman.

Malvern's thrift unit entered into a formal written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last month, replacing a supervisory agreement already in place.

Stilwell Group is the second activist investor to back Weagley. PL Capital, which had been pressuring the company to sell itself, threw its support behind the new CEO last month.

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