Ireland is on track to sell all shares in AIB by the end of the year, the finance minister has said.
The Irish State sold a 5% stake in AIB, which will generate around 652 million euro (£546 million) and reduce its stake to 12.5%.
It is the latest effort to reduce the state’s stake in the banking sector following its multi-billion-euro rescue plan for the banks during the 2008 global financial crash.
The then-Irish government put 64 billion euro (£54 billion) into Irish banks during the property crash.
This is the sixth round of AIB shares owned by the Irish State to be sold, and brings the total return to around 17.9 billion euro (£15 billion).
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said that each accelerated bookbuild transaction had achieved “incremental improvements” on the placing price for Ireland while also tightening the discount.
“This latest transaction achieved a price which was 14% higher than what was achieved in the previous transaction last June,” he said in a statement.
“Once again, this transaction was well received, with significant demand from a large number of high-quality international institutional investors.”
(The transaction) will return a further c. 652 million euro to Irish taxpayers to whom AIB is deeply grateful for their support during the financial crisis. This brings the total proceeds returned to the state to c. 18 billion euro
He added: “We have made significant progress in reducing the state’s shareholding in AIB from c. 71% at the beginning of 2022 to c. 12.5% today. It is now a realistic target that the state could exit its position in AIB later this year should market conditions allow.”
The state sold its remaining shares in Bank of Ireland in September 2022, making it the first bank to return to full private ownership since the crash.
AIB Group chief executive officer Colin Hunt welcomed the move and said it was “another important milestone” in returning the state’s investment.
“It will return a further c. 652 million euro to Irish taxpayers to whom AIB is deeply grateful for their support during the financial crisis. This brings the total proceeds returned to the state to c. 18 billion euro (£15 billion).”
