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Bank of Queensland (BOQ) is set to acquire the Australian and New Zealand arms of US-based finance business CIT Group (CIT ANZ).
The companies today signed a purchase agreement under which BOQ would acquire the CIT ANZ vendor equipment finance business that operates in the IT and office market as well as motorcycle and power equipment market.
BOQ managing director David Liddy said the purchase would provide the bank with “access to a strategic specialised market and an ideal growth platform from which to grow new vendor relationships”.
Liddy added that BOQ intends to operate CIT ANZ as a standalone business.
“CIT ANZ has a strong and experienced management team with the ability to expand and grow the business, and our intention is that they will continue to manage the operations and drive this growth,” he said.
BOQ currently has a successful equipment finance book of approximately A$3.4 billion. The acquisition of CIT ANZ represents around 15 per cent of this book.
Liddy said the transaction, which is due to be completed by the end of this quarter, would not have a material impact on BOQ’s 2010 financial year results.
