Sold: ANZ prepares to get keys to Suncorp after $4.9bn deal

ANZ’s $4.9bn takeover of Suncorp Bank is all but done, but we hear disentangling the local lender from the broader Suncorp Group is set to be a challenge.

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott in Brisbane last week.

ANZ’s $4.9bn takeover of Suncorp Bank is all but done, but we hear disentangling the local lender from the broader Suncorp Group is set to be a challenge.

ANZ boss Shayne Elliott tells City Beat that part of the complications of the deal comes from Suncorp Bank being part of a bigger financial group.

“The first thing we need to do is disentangle Suncorp Bank from Suncorp Group,” says Elliott. “A lot of Suncorp Bank’s services like payroll is done by the group. So we need to unwind all those things, and then plug all those things into ANZ. So it’s a little bit more complicated than a normal acquisition.”

Elliott, who visited Suncorp staff in Brisbane last week, says the bank’s HQ in Ann St will stay where it is following the acquisition. “There are no changes to that, but obviously we will be paying rent and all that stuff,” he says.

So will customers notice any difference? Elliott says no. “Part of the commitment we’ve made is that for the first number of years, customers will not notice any difference,” he says. “So the same branches, same people, same brand, same color, same system, same product. Nothing changes.” But that does not mean ANZ will never make any changes at Suncorp Bank. “We are still in this awkward phase where we are still competitors, so we don’t have full access,” he says. “We don’t know everything about Suncorp Bank.

“But once we get in we will start to progressively decide what will change, but that’s going to be some years away before you notice anything.” Watch this space.

People walk past a Suncorp Bank branch in Brisbane.

High flyer

Brisbane-based aerospace company Hypersonix Launch Systems has hired former Australian ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos as chair..

Hypersonix says Sinodinos’ appointment is testament to the company’s global ambition to become the world leader in hypersonic technology.

Hypersonix is developing a prototype aircraft that could potentially fly at Mach 7, which is seven times the speed of sound, or 8561km/hr. In other words a two-hour flight from Brisbane to London. The technology has many potential applications including launching satellites into orbit, reusable hypersonic space planes and host of military uses.
Sinodinos served as Australia’s ambassador to the United States between 2020 and 2023. He was previously Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science and Senator for New South Wales from 2011 to 2019 and chief of staff to Prime Minister John Howard from 1997 to 2007. In his capacity as ambassador, Sinodinos took a key role in the finalisation of the AUKUS trilateral defence agreement between Australia, the United States, and the UK.

Arthur Sinodinos

GIVIT hire

Brisbane-based not-for-profit donation platform GIVIT has appointed Chris Staines as chief executive officer. Staines spent 10 years with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), including heading operations in the Philippines and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and in IFRC’s Geneva headquarters and Malaysia. He also led the Australian Red Cross response to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and has extensive experience in state government and community-based roles in Australia.