The Rock Building Society Limited (Rock) and MyState Limited (MyState) have announced they intend to merge by way of a scheme of arrangement (scheme) with Rock shareholders.
The proposed merger follows the merger of MyState and Tasmanian Perpetual Trustees in 2009, and reflects the ambition of both MyState and Rock to expand operations geographically. Rock is based in Queensland and has a market capitalisation value of around $46.3 million, while MyState, based in Tasmania, has a market capitalisation of around $236 million, the announcement stated.
Commenting on the announcement made to the Australian Securities Exchange, MyState chairman Dr Michael Vertigan said the merger would be the first step in the company’s longer term goal to operate on a national level.
“For some time, MyState has recognised that with a customer base of more than 200,000 Tasmanians, if the company is to continue to grow and be competitive, it will need to undertake national expansion of its operations,” Vertigan said.
According to MySuper, the proposed merger does not affect the entitlements of current MyState shareholders and they are not required to vote on the proposal.
If Rock shareholders approve the merger at a scheme meeting, expected to be held in Rockhampton in November , they will receive 7.75 MySuper shares for every 10 Rock shares, Rock stated.
“The proposed merger is the next logical step in Rock’s development, to build a broader and more diverse retail business that provides a regionally-focused alternative to the bigger banks for the communities of regional Queensland,” said Rock chairman Stephen Lonie.
A one off implementation cost of approximately $3.5 million before tax is expected to be incurred over a full three year period.
The conditions of the scheme are set out in full in the scheme implementation deed, which has been released separately to the Australian Securities Exchange.
