(Alliance News) - The Irish government on Tuesday said it will continue to sell shares in Dublin-based bank AIB Group PLC in the first half of the new year, having already reduced its stake to about 40% from 70%.
Minister of Finance Michael McGrath announced an extension of the government's AIB share trading plan into a fifth phase. The plan will continue to be run by Merrill Lynch International, part of Bank of America Corp, and will run until July 23.
The fourth phase of the AIB share sale raised EUR124.7 million at an average price of EUR4.23 per share, the Department of Finance said. AIB shares were quoted at 362.75 pence in London on Tuesday. They are up 6.7% over the past year and 9.7% over the past five years.
The share trading plan has raised EUR824 million in total since first launched in January 2022 and has reduced the government's holding to 40.8% from 71.1%. Dublin took the stake in AIB as part of a taxpayer bailout of the lender during the financial crisis of 2008.
"The AIB trading plan has played an important role in enabling us to gradually reduce our shareholding in the bank since it became operational, especially when opportunities for larger block trades were not available to us," McGrath said.
AIB shares will not be sold below a pre-determined floor price, which wasn't disclosed and which the Department of Finance keeps under review. "As before, we will continue to look at other disposal options, should they present themselves," the government minister added.
By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor
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Aib Group (AIBG)