State Prepares to Sell Shareholding of AIB
The Department of Finance announce on Thursday, November 17, that they have launched a competition to appoint investment banks to help coordinate in a potential Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Allied Irish Bank. The coordinators will be appointed for a 18-month period, into 2018. The department cautioned that the Minister for Finance has not given a timeframe to offer an IPO and may choose not to continue with the sale subject to political and market conditions.
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan said, “While there is no fixed timetable for a sale at this time, given the long lead times involved in such a process this appointment is a necessary next step in order to provide the State with the option to sell some of the State’s shareholding in AIB during 2017 or indeed early 2018.” Noonan also said that the ultimate decision on whether to go through with the sale “will be subject to a range of factors including prevailing market conditions but the overriding consideration will be whether any transaction is likely to maximise the return for the State.”
AIB received an initial bailout of €3.5 billion by the Irish government in 2009. According to the Department of Finance, the state’s total investment in AIB currently stands at about €20.7 billion.
In early 2015 Goldman Sachs International and William Fry were appointed to provide Financial and Legal advice to the Department on reconfiguring AIB’s capital structure.
