St George shares jump 28 percent on Westpac bid

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Shares in Australia's St George Bank Ltd (SGB.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped over 28 percent on Tuesday after bigger rival Westpac Banking Corp Ltd (WBC.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) launched an agreed A$18.6 billion ($17.5 billion) all-share bid.

By 9:01 p.m. EDT, St George shares were up 27.4 percent at A$33.95, off an opening peak of A$34.20. Westpac was down 2.2 percent at A$25.40.

($1=A$1.06)

(Reporting by Victoria Thieberger)