Investment bank Macquarie Capital has been drafted in to assist The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland on the sale process of its bank, say sources, which has now got under way.
It comes with suggestions that the $7.3bn regional lender Bendigo Bank may be among the early suitors for the lender that could sell for about $300m.
DataRoom reported earlier this month the RACQ bank had been placed on the market, weeks after it agreed to sell its insurance business for $855m to IAG.
This column understands that information memorandums are in the market, and among the groups looking are building societies, such as the Newcastle Building Society.
Great Southern Bank may look, although could be distracted with its own internal integration.
Bendigo Bank flagged in February it was increasing spending as part of its transformation program. This was while delivering results, when it told the market its cash earnings for the six months to December fell to $265.2m, down 1.1 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
Shares fell on the delivery of the result, which was worse than analysts had been expecting.
RACQ entered the banking market through the acquisition of a Queensland-based mutual business.
It merged in 2016 with QT Mutual Bank, an authorised deposit-taking institution, to provide Queenslanders with a new member-owned banking option.
Its net tangible assets are about $300m.
The business reinvests profits into the lender for members and offers services in online banking, home loans and savings.
The Australian reported around the time of the merger that RACQ had ambitions to go nationwide in a world first for an auto club as part of a five-year strategy to dull the impact of disruption facing its traditional business lines.
RACQ has more than 1.7 million members and generates most of its income from products like membership benefits and discounts, roadside assistance and banking. In 2024 the company generated total revenue of $2.4bn, including sales and other revenue, and had 2712 employees.
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