Kina Securities based in Papua New Guinea maintains that there has been no change to it plans to acquire Westpac’s Fiji operations.

FBC News believes that HFC and the Fiji National Provident Fund have shown interest in buying Fiji operations out of Kina Securities.

However the PNG based bank has told FBC News that it is looking forward to acquiring Westpac Fiji in the latter part of 2021 as planned.

Last December the Westpac Group announced the sale of its Pacific businesses in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

This is subject to local regulatory and Kina shareholders’ approval and the transaction is expected to take place later this year.

It’s understood HFC and FNPF are making a bid to acquire Westpac Fiji from Kina Securities.

Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says any such move would be good for Fiji and for the banking sector because there is no large locally owned bank.