Bulletin: ANZ's Proposed Acquisition Of Suncorp-Metway Adds Scale And Geographic Diversity

MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) July 19, 2022--Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.'s (ANZ) proposed acquisition of Suncorp-Metway Ltd. (SML) should enhance ANZ's competitive position in the Australian residential lending market. SML (A+/Positive/A-1) is a residential mortgage lender based in Queensland--a geography in which ANZ (AA-/Stable/A-1+) has traditionally been underweight. The proposed acquisition will add about A$85 billion in assets to ANZ's balance sheet, which totaled about A$680 billion as of May 31, 2022, although ANZ will remain the smallest of Australia's four major banks. In our view, the acquisition would strengthen the bank's market position in the higher growth state of Queensland and deliver the group greater scale and improved geographic diversity across the Australian states and New Zealand.

...July 19, 2022 MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) July 19, 2022--Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.'s (ANZ) proposed acquisition of Suncorp-Metway Ltd. (SML) should enhance ANZ's competitive position in the Australian residential lending market. SML (A+/Positive/A-1) is a residential mortgage lender based in Queensland--a geography in which ANZ (##-/Stable/A-1+) has traditionally been underweight. The proposed acquisition will add about A$85 billion in assets to ANZ's balance sheet, which totaled about A$680 billion as of May 31, 2022, although ANZ will remain the smallest of Australia's four major banks. In our view, the acquisition would strengthen the bank's market position in the higher growth state of Queensland and deliver the group greater scale and improved geographic diversity across the Australian states and New Zealand. ANZ's capital is likely to remain a strength to the rating because the bank plans to fund the A$4.9 billion acquisition with about A$3.5 billion in common...

Bulletin