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The activist investor that last year threatened Boston-based Eastern Bank with a proxy fight for seats on its board says it’s gotten the changes it wants.

In a presentation HoldCo Asset Management distributed to members of the media Monday, and which it plans to make the UBS Financial Services Conference later today, it lauds comments Eastern Bank management made on the bank’s recent fourth-quarter earnings call swearing off acquisitions as a part of their strategy.

“Over the past six months, we launched five public activist campaigns across the banking sector, each with a meaningful likelihood of progressing to a proxy contest at the respective upcoming shareholder meetings,” HoldCo cofounders Vik Ghei and Misha Zaitzeff said in a joint statement. “We are pleased to report that, in every case, management teams and boards made substantive changes that meaningfully altered the trajectory of their institutions, and as a result, we will not be pursuing proxy contests at any of these five banks.”

The investment firm had also targeted KeyBank, Comerica Bank, Columbia Bank and First Interstate Bank, and campaigned against Comerica executives’ plans to sell the bank to major regional lender Fifth Third Bank, arguing the deal undervalued Comerica.

HoldCo launched its campaign against Rivers and Eastern Bank in October, saying it was displeased with the bank’s active M&A strategy it took since becoming public. The bank completed mergers with Century Bank, Cambridge Trust and HarborOne Bank, growing its deposit franchise to the biggest among Massachusetts-based banks, gaining it a sizable wealth management operation and a presence in both the New Hampshire and Rhode Island markets.

The investment firm argued these deals hurt shareholders, compared to using the bank’s IPO cash in share buybacks or even using the opportunity to sell itself to a larger bank. HoldCo threatened to contest the next Eastern Bank board elections, in which Rivers and four other directors were up for reelection.

Then, in its fourth quarter earnings call last month, Eastern executives suddenly said the bank would not be pursuing acquisitions.

“Now is the time for us to realize the full potential of what we have built to deliver organic growth and solid financial returns,” Eastern Bank executive chair Bob Rivers told stock analysts in the Jan. 23 call. “As a result, we will not pursue any acquisitions, as we are completely focused on organic growth and returning capital to our shareholders for the foreseeable future.”

HoldCo’s presentation praised Eastern’s about-face, and commitments by Rivers and CEO Denis Sheahan during last month’s call that the bank will now aim to “aggressively return excess capital to shareholders.”

“Chairman Rivers and CEO [Denis] Sheahan deserve real respect,” the presentation said. “Based on what they’ve said, they have fully reversed course on an acquisition strategy that went wrong, and that takes real courage.”

HoldCo’s presentation argues that Eastern will eventually end up selling itself to M&T Bank. It also noted that if Eastern Bank goes back on its word that HoldCo could pursue a proxy contest.

“And while we are standing down – and applauding actions that should meaningfully enhance standalone shareholder value – we also believe M&T is waiting in the wings,” the presentation said. “In our view, the most likely end-game is a well-run auction process, with M&T as the likely winner.”

Eastern Bank did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.

Activist Investor Declares Victory in Eastern Bank Fight

by Sam Lattof time to read: 2 min
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