Hanover sells Nationwide Finance

Allied Farmers is to buy Hanover’s Nationwide Finance in a deal worth $33 million.

Friday, 30 March 2007

The agreement is conditional on the approval of Nationwide’s trustee and the shareholders of Allied Farmers, and is targeted to take effect at the end of April.

Allied Farmers Group chief executive David Bale says the purchase of Nationwide is consistent with Allied’s strategy of focusing on property and commercial financing.

“We are extremely pleased to have secured Nationwide Finance. It has a strong reputation in the New Zealand finance industry and will add value to the wider finance activities of the Allied Farmers group.”

“Having a finance business with $320 million in assets will allow Allied Farmers to achieve synergies from its existing relationships with farmer clients.”

He says that the finance companies will be able to offer financing instruments that cover Allied Farmers extensive involvement in the dairy industry through livestock, and rural services throughout New Zealand. It is planned that the synergies will expand as Allied Farmers also grows its rural business.

He says the combination of Allied Prime Finance and Nationwide Finance will provide us with significant market presence and a solid platform for future growth across the whole group.

Hanover chairman Greg Muir says the sale of Nationwide signals Hanover’s intention to continue to focus on its core businesses of property financing, property investment, private equity/M&A and the growing consumer finance arm of MyBuy in Australia and FAI in New Zealand.

“Nationwide occupies an important niche in the business financing sector, but, while we have grown the business significantly during our ownership, its focus on asset and leasing finance is not core business for Hanover.”

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