Westpac buys Lloyds assets for $1.45b The Lloyds assets are Westpac's biggest purchase since the takeover of St George Bank. Westpac is set to buy Lloyds Banking Group's Australian assets for $1.45 billion, its largest acquisition since its takeover of St George Bank five years ago. The deal also comprises the motor vehicle finance book of $3.9 billion, equipment finance book of $2.9 billion and a corporate loan portfolio of $1.6 billion, which together give the loan portfolio a face value of $8.4 billion. In early trade today, shares in Westpac have jumped 2.1 per cent to $32.90. "This is a value creating, straightforward transaction that makes both commercial and strategic sense," Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly said. These are strongly performing businesses that we know well and that will expand our reach and capability in target segment. Westpac won the auction after rivals Macquarie Group and a consortium led by Pepper Australia and GE Capital dropped out of the race. The sale was part of Lloyd's global strategy to cut costs and shrink its international network to refocus on lending in the British domestic market. The transaction is expected to add $100 million to cash earnings by fiscal 2015, according to Westpac's statement. The purchase price includes about $1.19 billion of net tangible assets and $260 million in goodwill. Westpac expects pre-tax integration costs of $130 million and pre-tax savings of $70 million per year. The deal isn't subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed on December 31, according to the statement. Westpac has notified the Australian Competition & Consumer commission of the transaction and is co-operating with the Commission's informal merger review process, the bank said. The ACCC said Wedensday it would probably review any acquisition of the Lloyds assets by Westpac. Ms Kelly, who ran St George before the Westpac takeover, in May agreed to pay a special dividend for the first time since 1988 after first-half cash earnings rose 10 percent. Westpac shares have risen 21 per cent since she took over on February 1, 2008, the second-best performance among the four biggest Australian lenders.