Harvard Illinois Bancorp, Inc. Enters Into Settlement Agreement

HARVARD, Ill., Aug. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvard Illinois Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company") today announced that it has entered into a Settlement Agreement (the "Agreement") with Stilwell Value Partners VII, L.P., Stilwell Activist Investments, L.P., Stilwell Partners, L.P., Stilwell Value LLC, and Joseph Stilwell, an individual (collectively, "The Stilwell Group," and each individually, a "Stilwell Group Member"), pursuant to which, among other things, the Company has agreed to reduce the number of its directors by two, whether through resignations or a decision not to renominate, effective at the completion of the 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Meeting"). 

The Agreement will remain in effect until December 31, 2017.  During the term of the Agreement, The Stilwell Group and each Stilwell Group Member will not, among other things, solicit proxies in opposition to any recommendations or proposals of the Company's Board of Directors, submit or encourage the submission of any nomination for election as a director of the Company or any stockholder proposal for business at a meeting of the Company's stockholders, vote for any nominee to the Company's Board of Directors other than those nominated or supported by the Board of Directors, seek to exercise any control or influence over the management of the Company or the Boards of Directors of the Company, propose or seek to effect a merger or sale of the Company, initiate litigation against the Company or certain affiliates or acquire additional shares of the Company's common stock (provided that, beginning December 1, 2016, The Stilwell Group and each Stilwell Group Member shall be permitted to increase their combined ownership of the outstanding Company common stock to up to 120,000 shares) .

In commenting on entering into the Agreement, Chairman of the Board Duffield J. Seyller III noted, "While we are extremely disappointed to lose the services of two long-standing directors, we believe that entering into this Agreement will save the Company significant time and resources as we implement a plan of voluntary dissolution following the sale of most of our assets and the termination of our banking operations.  Our goal is to provide stockholders with maximum value for their shares as promptly as possible and we believe that our stockholders will be best served by avoiding an election contest at our upcoming annual meetings."

SOURCE Harvard Illinois Bancorp, Inc.