The shareholders of Kina Securities Limited have overwhelmingly voted in favor of the acquisition of Westpac PNG and Westpac Fiji by Kina Bank, at its Extraordinary General Meeting held this morning in Port Moresby.
CEO Greg Pawson confirmed this after the meeting saying it was a great show of confidence by the shareholders.
After the proposed acquisition, there will be a newly branded bank, independent and separate from the existing Kina Bank brand and it will compete directly with all commercial banks in Fiji and PNG, including Kina Bank.
This means there will be no lessening of competition and no prospect of a duopoly or market dominance.
The proposed acquisition will position and enable Kina to take banking back to basics at an additional scale, with better customer service and a focus on lowering the cost of banking in both PNG and Fiji.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in both Fiji and PNG and the Bank says it is working closely with the regulators on this.
