WHS
30/09/2015 14:14
ASSET
NOT PRICE SENSITIVE
REL: 1414 HRS The Warehouse Group Limited
ASSET: WHS: WHS Acquisition of Financial Services Joint Venture Shares
The Warehouse Group announces the acquisition of Financial Services Joint
Venture shares
The Warehouse Financial Services Limited (TWFSL) is a Joint Venture between
Westpac (NZ) Operations Limited (Westpac) and The Warehouse Limited (The
Warehouse), and was formed in 2001.
The Board of The Warehouse today announced that it has acquired Westpac's
shares in its TWFSL Joint Venture for a consideration of Net Assets plus
$6.5M. The Warehouse is now the 100% owner of TWFSL.
This acquisition is the next step in the Warehouse's development of an
in-house financial services business, and brings a loan book of approximately
$57m onto the Warehouse Group Financial Services' balance sheet. The book is
being funded by a combination of equity proceeds from The Warehouse's capital
raising activity in 2014 and debt via a securitisation program that has been
established with Westpac.
A services agreement has also been entered into between TWFSL and Westpac, to
support the existing card products and to allow existing customers to
continue to pay their accounts through Westpac customer service channels.
"We have some exciting products that we plan to make available to new and
existing customers of our financial services business later this year. Until
then from a customer point of view, it is business as usual", said CEO of The
Warehouse Group Financial Services business, Mark Yeoman. "We also look
forward to continuing our strong relationship with Westpac as we build our
financial services business".
End CA:00271034 For:WHS Type:ASSET Time:2015-09-30 14:14:17
