Exhibit 99.1
STANDSTILL
AGREEMENT
This Standstill Agreement (this
“ Agreement ”) is entered into as of
August 26, 2009, by and among HF Financial Corp., a Delaware
corporation (the “ Company ”), and each of
Financial Edge Fund, L.P., Financial Edge-Strategic Fund, L.P., PL
Capital/Focused Fund, L.P., Goodbody/PL Capital, L.P., Goodbody/PL
Capital, LLC, PL Capital Advisors, LLC, PL Capital, LLC, PL Capital
Defined Benefit Pension Plan, John W. Palmer and Richard J. Lashley
(each a “ PL Capital Party ” and collectively
the “ PL Capital Parties ”). Except as the
context otherwise requires, all capitalized terms not otherwise
defined herein shall have the meaning as defined in
Section 1.1 hereof.
RECITALS
WHEREAS , the PL Capital Parties have communicated to
the Company their intent to cause the submission of certain
shareholder proposals (the “ Proposals ”) to be
presented to the Company’s shareholders for consideration at
the Company’s 2009 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the
“ 2009 Meeting ”);
WHEREAS , the Board has determined to adopt a majority
voting policy (the “ Governance Change ”) to be
effective for the Company’s 2010 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders (the “ 2010 Meeting ”);
WHEREAS , in view of the decision of the Board with
respect to the Governance Change, the PL Capital Parties have
agreed not to submit the Proposals; and
WHEREAS , the Company and the PL Capital Parties desire
to establish in this Agreement certain agreements and restrictions
between the parties.
AGREEMENT
NOW THEREFORE
, the parties do hereby agree as
follows:
ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS AND
CONSTRUCTION
1.1
Definitions
. Except for the names of the
parties hereto (which shall be referenced herein as defined above),
the following capitalized terms used in this Agreement shall,
unless the context otherwise requires, have the following
meaning:
“ Affiliate ” of
a specified person is a person that, directly or indirectly,
through one or more intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by,
or is under common control with, the person specified.
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“ Board ” means
the Board of Directors of the Company.
“ Common Stock ”
means the Company’s common stock, $0.01 par value per
share.
“ Consent ” means
any consent, approval, waiver, agreement, license, or report or
notice to, any Person.
“ Exchange Act ”
means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
“ Governmental Approval
” means any consent, approval, authorization, waiver, permit,
concession, franchise, agreement, license, exemption or order of,
declaration or filing with, or report or notice to, any
Governmental Authority.
“ Governmental
Authority ” means any federal, state, local or foreign
court, legislative, executive or regulatory authority or
agency.
“ Law ” means all
applicable provisions of all (a) constitutions, treaties,
statutes, laws (including the common law), codes, rules,
regulations, ordinances or orders of any Governmental Authority,
(b) Governmental Approvals and (c) orders, decisions,
injunctions, judgments, awards and decrees of or agreements with
any Governmental Authority.
“ Person ” means
any individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, limited
liability company, trust, unincorporated organization, government
or department or agency of a government.
“ SEC ” means the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
“ Securities Act
” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
1.2
Construction
. The parties have
participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this
Agreement. In the event an ambiguity or question of intent or
interpretation arises, this Agreement shall be construed as if
drafted jointly by the parties and no presumption or burden of
proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any party by virtue of
the authorship of any of the provisions of this Agreement. Captions
and titles contained herein are for convenience only and shall not
affect the meaning or interpretation of any provision of this
Agreement. Terms defined in the singular shall include the plural,
and vice versa, and pronouns in any gender shall include the
masculine, feminine, and neuter, as the context requires. Any
reference to any federal, state, local, or foreign statute or law
shall be deemed also to refer to all rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder, unless the context requires otherwise. The
word “including” shall mean including without
limitation, and use of the term “or” is not intended to
be exclusive, unless the context clearly requires otherwise. All
references to a “Section” refer to this Agreement, and
all references to an “Exhibit” refer to the documents
attached to this Agreement, unless the context otherwise
requires.
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ARTICLE II
SHARES SUBJECT TO
AGREEMENT
The shares of Common Stock subject
to this Agreement are all shares of Common Stock beneficially owned
(as determined pursuant to Rule 13d-3 of the Exchange Act) by
the PL Capital Parties as of the date of this Agreement, together
with any other shares of voting capital stock of the Company
hereafter acquired and beneficially owned by the PL Capital Parties
(collectively referred to herein as the “ PL Capital
Shares ”).
ARTICLE III
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF
THE PL CAPITAL PARTIES
The PL Capital Parties represent and
warrant to the Company as follows:
3.1
Authorization
. The PL Capital Parties each
have the requisite power, authority and legal capacity to execute,
deliver and perform and to consummate the transactions contemplated
by this Agreement. The PL Capital Parties each have duly executed
and delivered this Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the legal,
valid and binding obligations of the PL Capital Parties,
enforceable against them in accordance with its terms.
3.2
No Conflicts; Consents
. The execution, delivery and
performance by the PL Capital Parties of this Agreement and the
consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement do
not conflict with, contravene, result in a violation or breach of
or default under (with or without the giving of notice or the lapse
of time or both), or give rise to a claim or right of termination,
amendment, modification, vesting, acceleration or cancellation of
any right or obligation or loss of any material benefit under any
Law applicable to the PL Capital Parties or any material contract,
agreement, or instrument to which any of the PL Capital Parties are
a party. No Consent of any Governmental Authority or other person
is required to be obtained by any of the PL Capital Parties in
connection with the execution and delivery by the PL Capital
Parties of this Agreement.
3.3
The PL Capital Shares
. Each PL Capital Party, or
together with any other PL Capital Party, has the sole right to
vote the PL Capital Shares held by such party, and none of the PL
Capital Shares are subject to any agreement, arrangement or
restriction with respect to the voting of such shares by any non-PL
Capital Party, except as contemplated by this Agreement.
ARTICLE IV
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF
THE COMPANY
The Company represents and warrants
to the PL Capital Parties as follows:
4.1
Existence . The Company is duly organized, validly
existing, and in good standing under the laws of the State of
Delaware and is duly authorized to conduct business and enter into
contracts under the laws of the State of Delaware.
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4.2
Authorization
. The Company has full power
and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement, and to perform
its obligations hereunder, and such execution, delivery, and
performance are duly authorized by all necessary corporate action
of the Company. This Agreement constitutes the valid and legally
binding obligation of the Company, enforceable in accordance with
its terms and conditions.
4.3
No Conflicts; Consents
. The execution, delivery and
performance by the Company of this Agreement and the consummation
of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement do not conflict
with, contravene, result in a violation or breach of or default
under (with or without the giving of notice or the lapse of time or
both), or give rise to a claim or right of termination, amendment,
modification, vesting, acceleration or cancellation of any right or
obligation or loss of any material benefit under any Law applicable
to the Company or any material contract, agreement, or instrument
to which the Company is a party. No Consent of any Governmental
Authority or other person is required to be obtained by the Company
in connection with the execution and delivery by the Company of
this Agreement.
ARTICLE V
COVENANTS OF THE PL CAPITAL
PARTIES
5.1
Voting for Company
Proposals . Except
as provided below, from the date of this Agreement and continuing
through the third business day following the later of (such date,
or any earlier date on which a Termination Event (as defined below)
occurs, the “ Termination Date ”):
(i) the date on which the Company files its Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2010
with the SEC, or the last date on which such Form 10-Q must be
filed to be considered timely filed under SEC rules and
regulations; or (ii) the date on which the 2010 Meeting is
held, as long as it is held no later than November 30, 2010,
the PL Capital Parties hereby agree:
(a) that at the 2009 Meeting
and the 2010 Meeting the PL Capital Parties shall vote (or cause to
be voted) the PL Capital Shares in favor of the directors nominated
by the Board for election to the Board;
(b) not to seek to remove or
support anyone else in seeking to remove, without cause, any member
of the Board, or encourage any other Person to do so;
and
(c) not to nominate or
recommend a candidate for election to the Board, or become a
“participant” (as defined in Schedule 14A) in any
election contest involving the Company or the Company’s
securities, provided that the PL Capital Parties may submit
suggestions for nominees to the Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee pursuant to the nomination policy adopted by the
Board.
With respect to any other proposals
brought before the 2009 Meeting or the 2010 Meeting and with
respect to any proposals brought before any special meeting of the
shareholders, the PL Capital Parties may vote the PL Capital Shares
as they see fit, in their sole discretion. Furthermore, the
above limitations on voting at the 2009 Meeting and the
2010
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Meeting shall not apply in the event (each a
“ Termination Event ”): (i) the Company has
a consolidated loss for two or more fiscal quarters in the fiscal
year ending June 30, 2010; (ii) the consolidated tangible
common equity capital ratio drops below 5.00%; (iii) total
nonperforming assets exceed $25 million or 2.25% of consolidated
total assets; (iv) the Company or its primary subsidiary Home
Federal Bank (the “Bank”) ceases to be “well
capitalized” (as defined for regulatory capital);
(v) the Company reduces or eliminates its current quarterly
cash dividend of 11.25 cents per share; or (vi) the current
Chief Executive Officer, Curtis Hage, ceases to be the Chief
Executive Officer of the Company for any reason. The PL
Capital Parties will use their reasonable best efforts to cause
their respective Affiliates to be bound by and comply with the
provisions of this Section 5.1 .
5.2
Standstill
. From the date of this
Agreement and continuing until the Termination Date (the “
Standstill Period ”), except pursuant to a transaction
approved by the Board, the PL Capital Parties and their respective
Affiliates will not, in any manner, directly or
indirectly:
(a) make, effect, initiate,
cause or participate in (i) any acquisition of any assets of
the Company or its subsidiaries, (ii) any tender offer,
exchange offer, merger, business combination, recapitalization,
restructuring, liquidation, dissolution or extraordinary
transaction involving the Company or its subsidiaries or
(iii) any “solicitation” of “proxies”
(as those terms are used in the proxy rules of the SEC
promulgated pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act) or
consents with respect to any securities of the Company;
(b) form, join or participate
in a “group” (as defined in
Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act, and the
rules promulgated thereunder) other than a group involving the
PL Capital Parties, pooling agreement, syndicate or voting trust
with respect to the beneficial ownership of any securities of the
Company, or otherwise act in concert with another shareholder of
the Company for the purpose of acquiring, holding, voting or
disposing of the Company’s securities;
(c) act, alone or in concert
with others, to seek to control the management, Board or policies
of the Company;
(d) agree or offer to take, or
encourage or propose (publicly or otherwise) the taking of, any
action referred to in clauses “(a)”, “(b)”
or “(c)” of this Section 5.2 ;
(e) assist, induce or encourage
any other Person to take any action referred to in clauses
“(a)”, “(b)” or “(c)” of this
Section 5.2 ;
(f) enter into any discussions
or arrangements with any third party with respect to the taking of
any action referred to in clauses “(a)”,
“(b)” or “(c)” of this
Section 5.2 ;
(g) initiate or propose any
shareholder proposal or induce or attempt to induce any other
individual, firm, corporation, partnership, or other entity to
initiate any shareholder proposal;
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