Merger Creates Australia’s BiggestCU; Goal is 25% of Market

MELBOURNE, Australia - (01/02/06) Australia has a new mega-credit union.Credit Union Australia has merged with Australian National CreditUnion, and will now have 76 branches spread across the country,including in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian CapitalTerritory, Victoria and Western Australia. Membership will grow to400,000, it will have 800 employees, and assets will exceed (A) $5billion. The credit union has set a goal of having 25% of thecountry’s credit union market share by year-end 2006.Separately, CUA recently acquired naming rights to the home stadiumof the Penrith Panthers, near Sydney.