Bendigo pushes 'powerfully evident' chance of Suncorp deal in ANZ merger appeal
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank began its campaign for a merger with Suncorp Group's banking business in earnest in Australian Competition Tribunal hearings on Friday.
It's the fourth day of ANZ and Suncorp Group's bid to overturn an ACCC decision blocking their merger and even the lawyers are confused what day it is.
Most of Friday's hearing was conducted in confidential, closed to the public. But as the hearings for the case before the Australian Competition Tribunal hit the half-way mark, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank has begun making its case as the "powerfully evident" alternative buyer for Suncorp's banking arm.
Bendigo's barrister Nicholas De Young KC began his arguments pointing out that Suncorp's executives seem to have drunk the kool-aid when it comes to ANZ.
Part of De Young's role is to argue there is a realistic counterfactual to the ANZ-Suncorp merger, one where Bendigo buys up Suncorp instead. It was part of the ACCC's decision to block the deal.
