St. George takeover

St. George Bank agreed to an 18.6 billion dollar takeover offer from Westpac Banking that would create Australia's biggest bank and be one of the country's largest corporate deals. In a joint statement Westpac is offering 1.31 of its own shares for each St. George Bank share. The combined group would have close to 10 million customers, a 25 percent share of Australia's home loan market and would be the nation's biggest wealth advice provider with funds under administration of 108 billion Australian dollars ($102 billion), Westpac said.