Acquisition date finalised after Queensland law proclaimed
ANZ has announced that August 1 will be the official date the major bank will welcome Suncorp Bank into the fold, signalling the formal completion of the Queensland organisation’s acquisition.
In a statement to the ASX released on Tuesday, July 9, ANZ welcomed the Queensland government’s proclamation of the State Financial Institutions and Metway Merger Amendment Act.
This amends the Metway Merger Act and is the final piece of the regulation puzzle, paving the way for ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp Bank on July 31, 2024.
“As a result, ANZ will welcome about 3,000 employees and 1.2 million customers into the ANZ Group on 1 August 2024,” ANZ said in its ASX release.
The proclamation sets the date for the commencement of the Queensland legislation to amend the Metway Merger Act and fulfil the remaining condition required to facilitate the acquisition.
ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott (pictured above) said the strategically important acquisition would boost ANZ’s presence in Queensland, add scale to its retail and commercial businesses and enable the major bank to compete more effectively across Australia.
“We’re excited about the opportunities Queensland presents for ANZ and our customers – including by tapping into the state’s growing tech sector and skilled workforce,” Elliott said.
“Over a five-year period we will hire or place 700 people into our new major tech hub in Brisbane, bringing new career opportunities for Queenslanders.”
ANZ said at completion it expected the impact of the Suncorp Bank acquisition on Level 2 CET1 to be around 105 basis points, an approximate improvement of 18bps relative to the pro-forma estimate from ANZ half-year results in May.
An update would be provided in ANZ’s full-year results in November.
Queensland legislation sets certain conditions
The State Financial Institutions and Metway Merger Amendment Act 2024 imposes specific requirements that must be met as part of ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp Bank.
These include:
- that the constitution of Suncorp must require that the registered Suncorp office be located in Queensland;
- at least one board member must reside in Queensland;
- the head office of Suncorp must be in Queensland if the CEO’s principal office is in that state and the CEO performs their role primarily there, the chairperson has an office in Queensland the usual board meetings are held in Queensland.
Under the Act, the Suncorp CEO must also provide a certificate no later than July 31 each year stating that the bank had complied with these conditions.
Federal government conditions
The Queensland legislation relating to the acquisition follows Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ approval of the deal on June 28, which also set enforceable conditions.
These included that no regional ANZ and Suncorp Bank branch closures could occur Australia-wide for three years, no changes to the total number of Suncorp Bank branches in Queensland for at least three years and no net employment losses across Australia for three years.
Other conditions included Suncorp Bank renew its current agreement with Australia Post for the provision of Bank@Post services for a minimum of three years, and for ANZ to make its best endeavours to join Bank@Post on commercial terms for a minimum of three years.
The acquisition also funnelled billions of dollars in lending commitments to Queensland renewable energy projects, Queensland businesses, housing and support of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.
