Great Western Bank will form part of National Australia Bank’s (NAB’s) Development and New Business division under the leadership of George Frazis. In the US, Jeff Erickson will continue as Great Western Bank CEO, reporting to Ciaran McMullan, a member of Mr Frazis’ leadership team and CEO Americas Commercial.
NAB group CEO, John Stewart, said the opportunity to acquire Great Western Bank was the result of detailed work conducted over many months researching organic growth opportunities for National Australia Bank’s agribusiness relationship banking model in selected agricultural areas of the US.
Mr Stewart added: Great Western Bank offers an ideal springboard to accelerate the organic growth strategy for our agribusiness relationship banking model into the US.
Great Western Bank is also active in the commercial lending, wealth management distribution and insurance agency sectors. These are all areas where National Australia Bank has a strong track record and we will look to continue to develop Great Western Bank’s operations in these areas as well.
Mr Erickson, president and CEO Great Western Bank, added: Combining with National Australia Bank will enable Great Western Bank to significantly enhance our range of products and services, provide new employment opportunities for our staff and further support the communities in which we operate.
