The Bank of Queensland (BOQ) has completed its acquisition of Members Equity Bank (ME Bank) for a cash consideration of $1.325 billion, passing ownership from the industry super funds.
The acquisition was announced on 22 February, 2021, fully-funded through BOQ’s equity raising announced on the same day, and was approved by the Treasurer in June.
Both would continue to operate as separate authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) in the short term with no immediate changes expected for customers.
The directors of BOQ would remain in the existing positions on the BOQ board and would replace the ME Bank board, with all current ME Bank board members resigning.
BOQ said it would seek approval from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to consolidate and transfer ME Bank’s business as part of surrendering ME Bank’s ADI licence.
Following approval, it intended for ME Bank would continue as a standalone brand within the BOQ Group.
Patrick Allaway, BOQ Group chair, said today was a defining moment in the transformation of the BOQ Group.
“The completion of the acquisition unlocks new benefits for our shareholders, customer and people, and is a critical milestone in our multi-brand strategy to create a real alternative to the big banks,” Allaway said.
George Frazis, managing director and chief executive, said the acquisition of ME Bank was strategically aligned and financially compelling.
“It further strengthens our multi-brand strategy, delivers material scale, provides portfolio diversification ad enables the acceleration of the digital strategy towards a common digital retail bank technology platform,” Frazis said.
