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Mick Doleman Board Chair, Unity Bank |
Danny Pavisic Chief Executive Officer, Unity Bank |
It is now around 4 years since G&C and Unity last gave active consideration to a potential merger between the two Banks. Although the Boards of both organisations ultimately resolved not to proceed with a merger at that time (partly due to the onset of COVID), both parties nevertheless acknowledged that the underlying rationale for a merger remained compelling and undertook to maintain close contact and to re-visit the merger opportunity at an appropriate time.
After several months of confidential discussions, the Boards of Unity and G&C have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which sets out an agreed timetable under which the two organisations plan to merge. The merger provides an exciting opportunity to combine the strengths and proud histories of the two organisations in a “merger of equals” which will allow us to offer improved products and services for our combined membership base.
The merger will create one of Australia’s largest nationally operating mutual banks with projected assets as at the merger date of around $4 billion, a network of 28 branches and a full suite of digital services. The increased scale and cost synergies from the merger will allow the merged organisation to fund further innovative products and community support initiatives.
The merger is great news for Unity and G&C staff, as there will be no branch closures and all employees will be offered a role in the merged organisation with the added benefit of improved career and development opportunities.
Further details about the merger and the implementation timetable will be communicated to members over the coming months. Key points to note are summarised in the attached Q&A and include:
Click here to access Frequently Asked Questions.