This is the country's biggest banking acquisition in the past 10 years
Ashurst has helped ANZ to complete its $4.9bn takeover of Suncorp Bank in what has been described as Australia’s biggest banking acquisition for the past 10 years.
ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott confirmed that the bank took on its rival’s 3,000-strong team and 1.2 million customers this month.
“This strategically important acquisition boosts our presence in Queensland, adds scale to our retail and commercial businesses, and means we can compete more effectively across the Australian market”, Elliott said.
The Suncorp acquisition was finalised with the implementation of amendments to the Metway Merger Act on 31 July. Approvals and authorisation were secured from the Federal Treasurer and the Australian Competition Tribunal.
"The board continues to expect the net proceeds from the sale to be around $4.1bn. Consistent with the approach taken in previous divestments, it is our intention to return the majority of these net proceeds to shareholders, primarily by way of a capital return and a smaller fully franked special dividend component”, Suncorp Group Chairman Christine McLoughlin said. “We anticipate this will occur around the first quarter of the 2025 calendar year, with timing dependent on receipt of a ruling from the Australian Tax Office and approval from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority”.
She added that shareholders would be asked to approve resolutions related to the sale at the bank’s 2024 Annual General Meeting, which will be held in October.
“These include the return of capital, consolidation of ordinary shares, and amendments to the Suncorp Constitution to align with commitments to the Queensland Government under the Metway Merger Act”, McLoughlin said.
ANZ and Suncorp also entered into a transitional services agreement that involves the continued provision of services to Suncorp Bank by ANZ. According to Suncorp, most of the transitionary business and technology services are expected to be exited within two years; the full exit is not expected to take more than five years after completion.
The Ashurst team that advised ANZ was headed up by partners Eliza Blandford and John Brewster as well as senior associate Joseph Nguyen (corporate transactions). The following lawyers also assisted:
Competition
- Peter Armitage (partner)
- Justin Jones (partner)
- Tihana Zuk (partner)
Transitional services
- Andrew Craig (partner)
- Dora Guslitser (counsel)
Employment
- Jon Lovell (partner)
Brand
- Anita Cade (partner)
- Maria Sun (partner)
Finance regulatory
- Mark Bradley (partner)
- Narelle Smythe (partner)
Direct tax
- Ian Kellock (partner)
- Bronwyn Kirkwood (counsel)
Indirect tax
- Costa Koutsis (partner)
- Anthony Hui (senior associate)
Real estate
- Arthur Chong (partner)
- Jack Kelly (lawyer)
The team guided all aspects of the acquisition’s completion, having advised ANZ on this deal since 2022.
A team from Herbert Smith Freehills acted for Suncorp Group Limited.
