BOQ completes acquisition: unveils new look BOQ Specialist

BOQ has officially completed its acquisition of the Professional Finance and Asset Finance & Leasing businesses from Investec Australia Limited.

Brendan White, BOQ's Group Executive for Business Banking, Agribusiness and Financial Markets, said the acquisition will both grow and diversify BOQ's banking footprint.

"This acquisition expands our business banking offering; delivering a leading position in the highly-valued professional banking market," Mr White said.

"Our collaboration over recent months has highlighted the potential synergies available to our businesses as well as the extent of the cultural alignment and shared commitment to client service."

BOQ Specialist was today unveiled as the new name for the Investec Professional Finance business, reinforcing its commitment to niche professional segments such as medical, accounting and financial adviser clients, as well as the new opportunities that may emerge by partnering with BOQ.

BOQ Specialist marked the move to BOQ by announcing they will soon be launching a new product – a specialised mortgage complete with an offset account, credit card and other tailored features.

CEO of BOQ Specialist, Barry Lanesman said the move to BOQ was an exciting evolution for the Investec Professional Finance business with the new mortgage product demonstrating the advantages of working closely with a recognised bank with the scale of BOQ.

"Our established banking infrastructure and specialist expertise combined with BOQ's increased scale and banking experience puts us in a strong position to expand our proposition and significantly grow our business by providing a comprehensive offering for our clients," Mr Lanesman said.

"Our experienced team, our approach and our commitment to growing long term relationships remains unchanged. We are a recognised leader in the medical, dental and accounting professions and will continue to focus on our specialist niches."

The Asset Finance & Leasing business will merge with the existing BOQ Finance team.