Australia-based lender ANZ has agreed to a USD 3. 3 billion deal to acquire insurer Suncorp ’s banking arm in a bid to boost the size of its mortgage book.

ANZ is one of Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks along with Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and National Australia Bank, but it has fallen behind some of its rivals over the past decade as they capitalised on the country’s housing boom. The Suncorp deal is the largest in Australia’s banking sector since 2008, when Westpac bought St George and Commonwealth bought Bankwest in a period of consolidation for the sector. The deal will expand the lender’s footprint in the high-growth Queensland market.

ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp could herald further deals with smaller regional lenders including Bendigo Bank, Adelaide Bank, and the Bank of Queensland. ANZ, which will absorb USD 32. 6 billion of mortgages as part of the takeover, has made a series of commitments to Queensland as part of an agreement that includes USD 10.

5 billion of investment linked to renewable energy and the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. The bank also said it would not close any Suncorp branches in Queensland for three years after the completion of the deal and would maintain the brand in the state for at least five years. .