Briefs: Heartland capital raising on track Unloan taking new loan applications

Heartland Group has completed the institutional entitlement offer component of a NZ$210 million capital raising, launched yesterday as part of its acquisition of Challenger Bank. The offer raised gross proceeds of NZ$131 million, with support from existing and new institutional investors. The retail component of the offer will be launched on Thursday. Heartland has approval from APRA and the RBNZ to buy Challenger Bank, conditional on a successful capital raise. Proceeds will go to finance part of the consideration, support regulatory capital requirements and fund asset growth after the transaction is completed.

Commonwealth Bank’s digital-only home loan business Unloan has extended its offering to new home loan borrowers. Since the business was launched in 2022 it has offered loans to refinancers but yesterday comparison site RateCity reported that it is now taking applications for new loans. Unloan’s pitch includes the promise of a fully online experience, a competitive variable rate of 5.99 per cent and annual rate discounts that could reduce the rate by 30 basis points over the life of the loan.