Fraternity Community in Baltimore Reaches Truce with Activist Investor

Fraternity Community Bancorp in Baltimore has agreed to add a director recommended by activist investor Joseph Stilwell.

The $163 million-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Stilwell Group to add Corissa Briglia to its board with a term that will expire at the 2016 annual meeting. Stilwell Group owns about 8.1% of Fraternity Community's common stock.

Briglia, a member of Stilwell Group, also sits on the board of Colonial Financial Services in Vineland, N.J.

Stilwell Group agreed that it will not solicit proxies opposing any recommendations or proposals from the company's board. The investor also agreed to avoid initiating any shareholder proposals to add more representatives to the board or to push the company to sell itself.

Stilwell Group also agreed not to acquire any additional shares of Fraternity Community stock. The group will also vote all of its shares in favor of the company's director nominees.

Separately, the company disclosed that it lost $145,000 in the third quarter, compared to a $91,000 loss a year earlier. Net interest income fell 6% from a year earlier, to $1 million, but noninterest expenses fell by 10%, to $1.1 million.