The St George banking group (St George) plans to sell its Scottish Pacific Group to BA Venture, a joint enterprise between Balmain Commercial and Allco Finance Group.
St George acquired the Scottish Pacific Group in 2000. The group specialises in factoring products for the small to medium-sized business segment in Australia and New Zealand.
The decision to sell off the Scottish Pacific business comes after part of the business was incorporated into St George, leaving the remaining core of Scottish Pacific available for sale.
The terms of the agreement are confidential with finalisation expected prior to the end of this financial year.
The acquisition of Scottish Pacific strategically complements Benchmark's existing business as well as providing greater geographic exposure and improved economies of scale.
St George acquired the Scottish Pacific Business in 2000.
BA Venture is currently the majority shareholder in Benchmark Debtor Finance.
The sale will not impact St George Bank's earnings per share targets for 2007 and 2008.
