Photo credit: PNGBuzz
Following the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission's decision to reject Kina Bank's bid to buy Westpac's interest in Westpac PNG Limited, Kina Bamk would no longer explore the Westpac purchase deal.
According to Kina Bank CEO Greg Pawson, this is the case.
Mr Pawson explained that one of the factors that made it difficult for Kina Bank in the short term was Westpac's desire to sell both of their businesses (Retail and Business Banking Financial Services) to Kina Bank, which Kina Bank did not want.
He said that when they bought ANZ two years ago to expand their national presence, they purchased the ANZ branch network and did not necessarily desire another one in PNG.
Mr Pawson explained that the major reason they pursued the Westpac purchase in PNG is that it will enable them to scale up faster since they are expanding at a rate of more than 20% per year organically in the country.
He went on to say that purchasing another company is known as an in-organic approach, which means a company may grow quicker, and Kina Bank was able to do so with the help of its investors.
“We weren’t overly disappointed about this because I think the exciting thing for us moving forward is given the work we did in Fiji with potentially acquiring Westpac businesses in Fiji, which is actually set up and ready to go,” he added.
Mr Pawson went on to say that they are particularly interested in ICT and technology and that one of the benefits of owning Westpac Fiji is that it is located on the southern cross cable, which connects the United States to Australia and has a 5G network. As a result, data is less expensive in Fiji, costing only a fraction of what it does in PNG.
Kina Bank believes that Fiji has a strong IT talent or workforce, which is a difficulty for them here in PNG, and that this would better support their operations here.
Reference: Kamus, Maxine. Post-Courier (10 March 2022). “Kina Bank Moves On From Westpac Acquisition”.
