Bank Australia has wrapped up its acquisition of 2025, this time with Australian Unity Bank, underscoring the growing momentum in Australia's M&A market.
Victoria-based Bank Australia first revealed plans to purchase mutual bank Australian Unity Bank, also headquartered in Victoria, in November 2024. The combined entity would strengthen Bank Australia's place in the market.
Damien Walsh, Bank Australia managing director, said the purchase of Australian Unity Bank "is about creating the scale and capability to deliver an even greater customer experience for our customers into the future."
The merger means 29,000 customers will join Bank Australia, bringing the combined customer-owned banks' new customer base to more than 320,000 members. Consumers at digital-only Australian Unity will also have access to all of Bank Australia's physical branches.
After the merger, all accounts — including home loans — fall under the Bank Australia portfolio. In addition, the combined Bank Australia and Australian Unity Bank now have almost $17.5 billion in AUM and nearly 900 employees.
"We're confident this move will deliver strong outcomes for our banking members," said Australian Unity Bank's Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director Rohan Mead.
Market players, however, say the acquisition reflects a larger trend — that there's more consolidation to come in Australia's financial sector. In fact, worldwide deal volume reached roughly $5.27 trillion in 2024, up 8% from the previous year, according to MergerMarket data. But in Australia, total deal value climbed by nearly 30%, rising from more than $110 billion to nearly $142 billion, over the same period.
In the case of Bank Australia, the move marks the second addition to its portfolio this year. The lender completed its merger with Qudos Bank in July.
But examples of M&A deal activity can be seen all across the market. In September, Recludo Group, which works by purchasing mortgage brokerages, revealed that it had snapped up three firms since the start of the year. The same month, Aussie alternative asset manager Salter Brothers agreed to buy private credit fund manager Causeway Asset Management Limited.
On the lender side, this past April, Regional Australia Bank and Summerland Bank formally agreed to merge their operations by 2026. In September, customer-owned banks Great Southern Bank and P&N Group (Police and Nurses Limited), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to discuss a potential merger. There's also Auswide Bank and MyState Bank Limited, G&C Mutual Bank and Unity Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank Limited and Australian Mutual Bank Limited, and People's Choice and Heritage Bank.
"A lot of the smaller entities are coming together just to compete," Chris Slater, head of strategic growth at Aussie private equity firm Recludo Group, told Australian Broker.
