The proposed South Island-listed "heartland" bank took a major step forward yesterday with the naming of a board and designated executive team.
The boards of CBS Canterbury, Southern Cross Building Society, Marac and its owner Pyne Gould Corporation signed a binding merger-implementation agreement last month.
Yesterday, the boards announced Pyne Gould and Marac chairman Bruce Irvine was now also chairman of Building Society Holdings, the new entity which is to be the listed holding company of the merged group.
The managing director-designate of the new entity is former Dunedin man Jeff Greenslade, who is chief executive of Pyne Gould and Marac.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said the new bank offered the entities a "real opportunity" to provide further competition to the major retail banks.
"This is a step-by-step process for them.
The will is there and the skill is there from the group of directors already in those organisations.
"They will get parochial support, but I expect them to sit alongside SBS Bank and TSB Bank and provide good competition for the major players."
The new bank was expected to focus on high-quality lending in the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) market, which was being ignored by the larger banks, he said.
Subject to regulatory and stakeholder approvals and satisfaction of other conditions, the merger was due to take effect from January 1.
Listing was being targeted for early February.
Mr Irvine said the formal appointment of the designated executive team to positions within the new entity remained subject to the successful outcome of the merger process, and individual confirmation.
"This is a significant step forward and the calibre of the proposed board and executive team will, we believe, give shareholders and other stakeholders faith and confidence in the `heartland' vision and merger proposal," he said.
Other members of the Building Society Holdings board are PGC director George Gould, CBS chairman Gary Leech, CBS director Graham Kennedy, Southern Cross Building Society director Christopher Mace and company chairman Geoffrey Ricketts, PGC and Marac director Bryan Mogridge, and Marac director Michelle Smith.
The chief financial officer-designate of Building Society Holdings is PGC and Marac chief financial officer Sean Kam.
