{"id":456104,"date":"2026-06-01T22:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/456104\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T22:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:59:09","slug":"heartland-to-buy-tsb-for-620m-to-create-larger-challenger-bank-with-a-regional-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/456104\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartland to buy TSB for $620m to create larger challenger bank with a regional focus"},"content":{"rendered":"The foundation noted the Reserve Bank\u2019s requirement for banks to hold more capital reduced the cashflow available for TSB to pay solid dividends. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor every $100 of net profit before tax, Toi Foundation is only able to distribute around $14 after tax and other requirements. This makes it difficult to diversify the portfolio while also meeting our ability to grow the amount we give back to the community,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n
Heartland chief executive Andrew Dixson said the scale that would be created by the merger would enhance the bank\u2019s ability to compete and increase its financial resilience. <\/p>\n
\u201cBy combining Heartland Bank\u2019s specialist product expertise with TSB\u2019s cost-effective funding and everyday banking services, we\u2019ll be able to offer more New Zealanders a better\u2011value banking alternative,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a larger bank, TSB Heartland Bank will be in a stronger position to keep investing in products and technology, while supporting the delivery of improved financial returns for our shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
TSB and Heartland are New Zealand\u2019s seventh and nineth largest banks respectively, by assets. Once merged, they will be the seventh largest bank, behind the big four Australian-owned banks, Kiwibank and Rabobank. <\/p>\n
TSB\u2019s assets are worth $9.5 billion. Heartland\u2019s are worth $5.6b. To put these numbers in context, Kiwibank\u2019s assets are worth $43.1b.<\/p>\n
TSB, or the Taranaki Savings Bank, has been owned by Toi Foundation since 1988. The foundation also owns 66% of Fisher Funds.<\/p>\n
Heartland is listed on the NZX and ASX and provides specialist banking products to New Zealanders and Australians.<\/p>\n
Dixson said the merger would enable Heartland to deploy capital more effectively across the group, and \u201chave the scale needed to deliver a stronger cost-to-income ratio through greater operating leverage\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur commitment to specialist products remains unchanged \u2013 this will simply be enhanced by full-service capabilities in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed deal is expected to be completed in December, provided it receives the appropriate regulatory and shareholder approvals. Taranaki residents will also be consulted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise the importance of TSB to its customers, staff, and the wider region, and we are committed to listening carefully to feedback before any final decision is made,\u201d Toi Foundation said.<\/p>\n
Jen\u00e9e Tibshraeny is the Herald\u2019s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.<\/p>\n
Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The foundation noted the Reserve Bank\u2019s requirement for banks to hold more capital reduced the cashflow available for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[231822,231821,3469,1643,138,3167,1652,5232,1958,2082,209,86196,85915,16774,1132,111,139,69,2738,5914,13311,61,76405,102,80],"class_list":["post-456104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-231822","tag-620m","tag-agreed","tag-bank","tag-business","tag-buy","tag-challenger","tag-create","tag-focus","tag-for","tag-group","tag-heartland","tag-holdings","tag-larger","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-owner","tag-regional","tag-sell","tag-to","tag-tsb","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}