Australian banks announce merger

Regional Australian banks Bendigo and Adelaide said Thursday their boards had agreed to a merger to form a bank with a market capitalisation of about 4.0 billion Australian dollars (3.4 billion US).
The two lenders said in a statement the merger would be implemented by a scheme of arrangement with Adelaide Bank shareholders receiving 1.075 shares of Bendigo Bank for each Adelaide Bank share.
The deal is subject to approval by Adelaide Bank shareholders. The merger plan comes after both banks reported record profits for the past year to June. Adelaide Bank reported a seven percent rise in annual net profit to 101 million dollars and Bendigo Bank said net income jumped 15.6 percent to 118.5 million dollars. Earlier this year Bendigo Bank rejected a merger proposal from another regional bank, Bank of Queensland Ltd.