Briefs: Heartland closes Seniors Finance deal, NAB restructure
New Zealand regional bank Heartland Bank has announced the completion of its deal announced in late February to buy Australasian reverse mortgage specialist Australian Seniors Finance and Sentinel for NZ$87 million in cash and shares from Quadrant Private Equity and other investors. Heartland said it paid NZ$48.3 million in cash and issued 43 million Heartland shares at 90 cents a share to Quadrant. The deal was conditional on shareholder approval by Australian shareholders and a successful NZ$20 million capital raising in New Zealand. National Australia Bank has changed its structure, putting its personal bank and business bank into a new unit called Australian Banking, according to The Australian. The report said change was designed to drive growth in business banking, which has been under intense competitive pressure and has been "losing momentum". The Australian Financial Review reported that NAB was considering the sale of its MLC life insurance business.