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The merger between two lenders has been given the green light by the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
The merger between Bundaberg-headquartered lender Auswide Bank (Auswide) and Tasmanian-based lender MyState Bank Limited (MyState) has moved a step closer after the Supreme Court of New South Wales approved the proposal on Friday (7 February 2025).
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In an ASX announcement, Auswide confirmed the Court had made orders approving the proposal that MyState acquires 100 per cent of the fully paid ordinary shares in Auswide by way of a scheme of arrangement.
The merger will see MyState continue as the parent company of the merged group, with Auswide a wholly owned indirect subsidiary.
Auswide shareholders had voted in favour of the proposal, unanimously recommended by the Auswide board, earlier this week (Monday, 3 February 2025).
This vote came after Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers signed off on the proposal at the end of January.
Auswide now expects to lodge the orders with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Monday, 10 February 2025, according to the announcement.
Once ratified, the merger is expected to be implemented on 19 February 2025.
What will the merged entity look like?
As previously reported, the merged group would have around 272,000 customers, a pro forma loan book of $12.5 billion (circa $8 billion from MyState and $4.5 billion from Auswide, both largely originated by the broker channel), net assets of $755 million, and total deposits of $9.6 billion.
Current MyState managing director and CEO Brett Morgan will lead the merged group, with current Auswide chair Sandra Birkensleigh retaining her position in the new entity.
Geographic diversification has been one of the main benefits expected to come from the proposed tie-up.
Once merged, the new entity would have 34.4 per cent of its home loan distribution in Queensland, with a fifth in Victoria and another fifth in Tasmania.
Merged entity “makes great sense”
Speaking to The Adviser last year, Morgan commented on the merits of the merger, noting how it enabled both Auswide and MyState to scale their businesses and invest in “strategically important initiatives, which include things like better digital experiences for customers, but also better origination platforms and integration with brokers”.
“One of the opportunities we’ve identified is being able to invest once into a more modern, better loan origination platform, which will deliver better service to our broker customers and their customers. We both see the opportunity to make a step change with that and only do it once under the merger, rather than twice,” Morgan said.
“So, this provides both of our businesses with some additional capacity to invest in a really, critically important technology and service that is important for us to keep growing up and down the eastern seaboard.”
[Related: Treasurer gives go-ahead for MyState-Auswide Bank merger]
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