BankRI shareholders target Ind. bank

MUNSTER, Ind. – The activist shareholder group that dogged Bank Rhode Island’s parent company for several years, pushing unsuccessfully for changes in management or a sale of the banking company, now is targeting a Midwest bank.
PL Capital LLC, an Illinois investment firm, says it wants to get one of its representatives, John Palmer, on the board of directors at Munster, Ind.-based CFS Bancorp Inc., the parent of 22-branch, $1.1 billion Citizens Financial Bank (no relation to Providence-based Citizens Financial Group).
PL Capital owns about 9.5 percent of CFS Bancorp’s stock, according to the Chicago Tribune.
For two years, Palmer and another PL Capital principal Richard J. Lashley conducted proxy fights at the bank’s annual meetings of shareholders. In 2007 and 2008, both men sought to gain director seats at Bancorp Rhode Island Inc. (NASDAQ: BARI), BankRI’s parent.
Earlier this year, both sides reached a “standstill agreement” after the BancorpRI board of directors agreed – at PL Capital’s urging – to adopt a majority voting policy and to reduce the size of the board from 15 to 12 directors.
Last month, PL Capital won a seat on the board at State Bancorp Inc. in Jericho, N.Y., according to the Tribune. In March, BCSB Bancorp Inc. of Baltimore reached an agreement with PL Capital that included making certain bylaw changes, such as removing a residency requirement for directors, the Tribune said.