Australian court approves 6.2 bln dollar Suncorp/Promina merger

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

SYDNEY (AFP) — An Australian court granted final approval Tuesday for a A$7.9 billion (US$6.2 billion) merger of banking and insurance firm Suncorp-Metway with general insurer Promina Group, Suncorp said.

Suncorp said the Federal Court had approved a scheme of arrangement between the two companies, giving the green light to the biggest deal in Australia's financial services sector in six years.

"Today’s approval is the result of extensive strategic planning and clears the way for a merged group with an extremely strong product offering, comprehensive distribution network and the competitive scale required to maximise growth opportunities," Suncorp chief executuve John Mulcahy said.

The merger will create a 20 billion dollar diversified financial services...