Piper Alderman has advised Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (ASX: BEN) (BEN) on its entering into a sale and purchase agreement with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ) (ANZ), pursuant to which BEN will acquire ANZ’s margin lending portfolio, which has a portfolio value of approximately $715 million with approximately 11,900 customer facilities as at 31 May 2022.
BEN is one of Australia’s largest banks, with over 2 million customers, 100,000 shareholders, 7000 employees and gross assets under management in excess of $76 billion.
The acquisition will allow BEN to further grow its margin lending business, Leveraged Equities Limited (LE), one of the leading and longest established margin lenders in Australia. The acquisition is expected to take the combined value of LE’s margin lending portfolio to more than $2 billion at completion.
The Piper Alderman deal team, led by James Dickson and Liam Higgins, advised BEN across all stages of the transaction lifecycle, including in relation to preliminary negotiations, drafting and negotiating the transaction documentation and advising on all related matters in respect of the transaction. Assisting the deal team, partners Mark Gordon, Shannon Adams, Joshua Annese, Andrew Rankin and Will Fennell and their teams also provided expert advice in respect of a number of specialist issues as part of the transaction process.
Nick Clark, Head of Legal Operations at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said:
“Thanks to James and Liam and the Piper Alderman team for their ongoing provision of timely and commercially sound legal advice, which allowed BEN to enter into the transaction with confidence. The acquisition aligns with BEN and LE’s growth strategy and ambition to maintain LE’s market leading position in the margin lending industry in Australia”.
Commenting on the transaction, James Dickson, Partner | Corporate at Piper Alderman said:
“It was a pleasure to have advised our longstanding clients Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Leveraged Equities on this important transaction and to support the deal team throughout the transaction process. We look forward to seeing the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and Leveraged Equities businesses continue to grow across the coming years.”
James Dickson – Partner, Piper Alderman