Government raises €515m from sale of further 5% stake in AIB

Michael Bolton

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has raised almost €515 million from the sale of a further 5 per cent stake in AIB.

The shareholding of the state will be reduced from 1,198.6 million ordinary shares, representing approximately 45.8 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the Company, to 1,067.6 million ordinary shares, reducing the stake to 40.8 per cent.

The shares were placed a price of €3.93 each, representing a 3.2 per cent discount to their closing price on Monday.

The gross proceeds from the sale of the Placing Shares will be €514.83 million. Upon settlement, this sum will be returned to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund pending further consideration by Mr McGrath.

It has also been agreed for Mr McGrath not to sell further shares in the Company for the period of 90 calendar days following the completion of the Placing without prior written consent.

The share sale will increase the amount that AIB has paid back of its €20.8 billion rescue to about €13.6 billion. The Government’s remaining stake currently has a market value of about €4.3 billion