Heartland buys Australia's Challenger Bank for A$36m; ends talks with Avenue Bank

Heartland buys Australia's Challenger Bank for A$36m; ends talks with Avenue Bank
Heartland Group Holdings chief executive Jeff Greenslade. (Image: Supplied)
Riley Kennedy
Heartland Group Holdings, the owner of Heartland Bank, has signed an agreement to purchase Australia's Challenger Bank for A$36 million (NZ$39.8m).The dual-listed New Zealand-based banking group said Challenger Bank was a “stronger acquisition opportunity” for Heartland as it looked for a full banking licence across the ditch, and it ended a memorandum of understanding to purchase another Australian bank. Heartland said the share purchase agreement for Challenger Bank from its ASX-listed owners, Challenger, remained subject...

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