OPINION: ANZ will be extremely disappointed that it failed to convince the competition watchdog that its acquisition of Suncorp bank would make it a more formidable competitor.
always knew it would face a struggle in convincing regulators to bless its audacious $4.9 billion bid for Suncorp’s banking division, but the Melbourne-based bank expected the Queensland government to be the big sticking point., saying it “was not satisfied ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp bank would not substantially reduce competition”.David Rowe
Although the ACCC did accept that there had been evidence of stronger competition in the home loan market, “including most recently through banks making increasing use of promotional and cashback offers”, it questioned how long this would last.“Recent intense competition in home loans appears to have been short-lived,” the ACCC noted in the summary of reasons for its determination.
More damning for ANZ, however, was that the ACCC rejected its argument that acquiring Suncorp’s bank would make it a more effective competitor in the home loan market. As the ACCC points out, buying Suncorp’s bank delivers ANZ an extra 1.2 million Australian customers for its retail banking business, “rather than needing to grow its business organically”.According to the regulator, this immediate boost to market share will reduce the pressure on ANZ to compete aggressively to increase its share of the home loan market.
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