(Adds NAB and Aussie Home Loans comments)
SYDNEY, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Ltd (CBA) (CBA.AX), will buy up to A$4 billion ($2.7 billion)
of mortgages from local finance firm Wizard, CBA said on
Wednesday, further boosting its market share in a consolidating
Australian home loan market.
CBA, the nation's third-biggest lender, pipped rival
National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB.AX) to buy Wizard's loans.
Wizard's brand and distribution business will be bought by
mortgage broker Aussie Home Loans, one-third owned by CBA, for
an undisclosed amount, Aussie Home Loans said in a statement on
Wednesday.
Wizard, owned by General Electric Co (GE.N), becomes the
latest non-bank lender to exit Australia's A$985 billion ($670
billion) home loan market as the global credit crisis pushes up
funding costs.
The changes have concentrated the market in the hands of
top banks.
CBA did not disclose the acquisition price. It said the
purchase of the prime mortgages will have little impact on its
Tier 1 capital ratio.
NAB said in separate release on Wednesday that it had ended
talks to buy Wizard after its offer was not accepted.
Wizard Home Loans was acquired by General Electric in 2004
for about A$500 million.
The Wizard loans are all insured by mortgage insurance
companies and have a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 90 percent.
Last year, Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) acquired the
struggling non-bank lender RHG Group Ltd's (RHG.AX) brand and
distribution network.
($1=1.469 Australian Dollar)
(Reporting by Cecile Lefort)
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