Activistinvestor Joseph Stilwell called on the management of Lacey, Wash.-basedAnchor Bancorp tofind a "suitable merger partner."

A letterincluded in an amended Schedule 13D filed July 7 stated that the sentiment wasexpressed to Anchor President and CEO Jerald Shaw during a June 15 meeting withMegan Parisi of the Stilwell group.

The letteralso stated that the group believed that management did their "verybest" to keep to a promise made two years ago to improve bank operations.

"However,continued poor performance highlights the reality that Anchor should now besold," Parisi stated in the letter, who added that management proposal onhow to improve the company's return on equity by the end of 2018 was"unrealistic."

"Inour view, it is not in shareholders' best interests for management and theboard to work 2.5 more years towards a marginally better — but still inadequate— ROE," part of the letter read.

TheStilwell group reported aggregate beneficial ownership of 239,966 of thecompany's shares, or a 9.8% stake, based on Anchor Bancorp's 2,454,486outstanding shares as of May 2.