Westpac/St George merger deal sweetened
St George shareholders will emerge better off from the banking group’s proposed merger with Westpac, following a revised agreement between the parties that will see them receiving an improved final dividend.
The two banking groups informed the Australian Securities Exchange today that they had agreed a revised merger proposal involving a higher dividend for St George shareholders and a package of measures to increase the certainty of completion of the transaction and accelerate merger benefits.
St George shareholders will receive a final dividend and a special dividend totalling up to $1.25 per St George share, an increase of 28 cents per St George share.
The enhanced arrangement has won the endorsement of the St George Board with chairman John Curtis claiming it represented a very positive outcome for the group’s shareholders.
The scheme book underlying the merger proposal will now be lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and is expected to be released to the market on September 30 before dispatched to St George shareholders in mid-October.
The scheme meeting is scheduled to be held on November 13.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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