PNL’s second merger attempt has been abandoned, after its board and Great Southern Bank’s board determined that it would ‘not be in the best interests of its customers’.
Police & Nurses Limited (PNL) – comprising P&N Bank in Western Australia and BCU Bank in NSW and South-East Queensland – has confirmed it has concluded exploratory merger discussions with Great Southern Bank (GSB) and that the merger will not proceed.
Both the PNL and GSB boards found that “progressing the merger would not be in the best interests of its customers”.
The proposed deal would have formed one of Australia’s largest customer-owned banks, with total assets of around $30 billion; dual head offices in Perth and Brisbane; regional offices in Coffs Harbour, Sydney, and Melbourne; and what Great Southern Bank described as the first “truly coast to coast presence in the sector”.
The merger would have brought together Great Southern Bank’s presence across Queensland, NSW, and Victoria, with P&N Bank’s positioning in Western Australia, and BCU Bank’s presence in northern NSW and South-East Queensland – creating a metropolitan and regional network for its 620,000 customers.
All three brands were set to continue to operate after the merger vote, with the merged entity remaining 100 per cent customer-owned.
However, both PNL and GSB boards have mutually agreed to terminate the memorandum of understanding, which was established last year.
In nearly identical statements, the two banks said: “After careful consideration and a robust process, the... board determined that progressing the merger would not be in the best interests of its customers.
“There is no impact on bank customers, employees or day-to-day operations. All accounts, services, branches and call centres continue to operate as normal.”
Both mutual banks thanked the other party for “their engagement throughout the process and wish them well in their future endeavours.”
The banks have not released details of why the deal is not progressing.
PNL chair Gary Humphreys stated: “While we will not be progressing this opportunity, we assessed the potential merger holistically and I am confident we have made the right decision.”
This is the second failed merger attempt for PNL in as many years.
In June 2024, it announced plans to combine with Beyond Bank – a deal that would have created an entity with around $20 billion in assets.
However, that proposal collapsed in September 2024 after P&N concluded that proceeding was “not in the best interests” of its members. Following a detailed due diligence process, P&N said undisclosed issues had been raised that prevented the deal from progressing.
Beyond Bank has since moved to merge with Family First Bank.
The failed merger talks come despite PNL having delivered a strong financial year 2025 performance, posting net profit after tax of $28.2 million (up 17 per cent) alongside net interest income of $191.6 million (up 11.5 per cent).
Growth was broad-based, with loans under management rising to $7.9 billion (up 7 per cent), member deposits lifting to $7.1 billion (up 11 per cent), total assets reaching $9.4 billion (up 5.2 per cent), members’ funds increasing to $614.3 million (up 4.3 per cent), and capital adequacy steady at 14.8 per cent year on year.
Merger momentum builds
The merger talks come amid a string of mergers across the mutual banking sector.
Last year, Bank Australia completed two acquisitions – it completed its acquisition of Australian Unity Bank in November and Qudos Bank in July, taking Bank Australia’s customer base to more than 320,000 people.
Meanwhile, Summerland Bank and Regional Australia Bank moved one step closer to merging after members approved the deal, clearing the path for the 1 July 2026 implementation.
Earlier in 2025, Auswide Bank became a wholly owned subsidiary of MyState Limited, while G&C Mutual Bank and Unity Bank finalised their merger to form Unity Bank Limited from July 2025.
Other notable deals in recent years include the creation of People First Bank following the merger of Heritage Bank and People’s Choice and the consolidation of Greater Bank and Newcastle Permanent.
[Related: Great Southern Bank and P&N Group hold merger talks]
