ALBK.L Regulatory News (ALBK)

14 Nov 2007 10:29

Allied Irish Banks PLC14 November 2007 For immediate release 14 November 2007 AIB GROUP IN MERCHANT ACQUIRING JOINT VENTURE WITH FIRST DATA Allied Irish Banks p.l.c ("AIB") (NYSE: AIB), with a market leadership positionin financial services and card acquiring in the Republic of Ireland, and FirstData Corp. (First Data), a global leader in electronic commerce and paymentservices, today announced that they have signed an agreement to form a merchantacquiring joint venture. The joint venture will trade as AIB Merchant Servicesin the Republic of Ireland. The new joint venture, based in Dublin, will provide card acquiring services inthe Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe and willdeliver additional products and services and enhanced functionality to AIB's30,000 merchant customers. It will also provide a compelling service offeringfor new merchants, enabling further expansion of the bank's credit and debitcard acquiring business. AIB's card acquiring business in the Republic of Ireland will form the principalbasis of the new joint venture. It is expected that for the year ended 31December 2007, AIB's card acquiring businesses in Ireland and in the UK willprocess approximately 140 million and 13 million transactions respectively. Completion of the transaction is conditional upon competition approval, which isexpected before the end of this year. As part of the agreement, First Data willhave an option to enable the joint venture to acquire AIB's card acquiringbusiness in the UK. The total value of the gross assets of the Irish and UKbusinesses is approximately €5.5 million. The transaction is expected to have aneutral effect on AIB's earnings per share in 2008. Both AIB and First Data will be involved in the day-to-day operations of the newjoint venture and will be represented on its board of directors. Welcoming the development, Donal Forde, Managing Director of AIB Bank, Republicof Ireland Division, said: "This new initiative is an exciting move for AIB aswe continue to look for ways to enhance our service offering for customers andexpand our business. By partnering with a leading global player like FirstData, we are positioning ourselves for substantial future growth in thisbusiness, in Ireland, the UK and further afield. The combination of AIB'sstrong track record in this business and First Data's global payments andmerchant acquiring expertise and world class systems will provide the idealplatform for business expansion and profitable growth in a Single EuropeanPayments Area (SEPA) environment." Nadeem Shaikh, President, First Data, Western Europe, the Middle East andAfrica, added: "First Data seeks to partner with leading banks across Europe andwe are delighted AIB selected us for this important new venture. The bank hasrecognised First Data's unique ability to help accelerate the growth of itsmerchant acquiring business in Europe and we will work closely with the skilledand experienced staff at AIB to build a business of which we can all be proud." AIB Corporate Finance Limited, which is regulated by the Financial Regulatorunder the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, acted as financial adviser to AIBin relation to this transaction and A&L Goodbody acted as legal adviser. -*- About First Data First Data Corp. is a leading provider of electronic commerce and paymentsolutions for businesses worldwide. With operations in 38 countries, First Dataserves over 5 million merchant locations, 1,900 card issuers and theircustomers. It powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure forpeople and businesses around the world to buy goods and services using virtuallyany form of payment. The company's portfolio of services and solutions includesmerchant transaction processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift,payroll and other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authenticationsolutions; receivables management solutions; electronic check acceptanceservices through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce and mobile paymentsolutions. The company's STAR Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2million ATM and retail locations. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com. About AIB AIB Group is Ireland's leading banking and financial services organisation. Itoperates principally in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States andPoland. AIB's activities are conducted through four major operating divisions: AIB Bank ROI consists of the group's retail and commercial activities in theRepublic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man; AIB Finance and Leasingand Card Services. AIB Bank UK provides retail and commercial banking services in Great Britain,where it operates under the name Allied Irish Bank (GB) and in Northern Ireland,where it trades as First Trust Bank. AIB Capital Markets comprises the Corporate Banking, Global Treasury andInvestment Banking activities of the Group as well as Allied Irish America.. In Poland, AIB has a 70.5% shareholding in BZWBK which has over 380 outletsmainly in the mid-west and south-west of the country. AIB also has a 25% stake in M&T Bank, one of the top regional banks in the US. For more information visit www.aibgroup.com For further information please contact: Alan Kelly Catherine BurkeGeneral Manager, Group Finance Head of Corporate RelationsAIB Group AIB GroupBankcentre BankcentreDublin 4 Dublin 4Tel: +353-1-6600311 ext. 12162 Tel: +353-1-6600311 ext. 13894 First Data EuropeSue Finnegan, Proof PR +44 (0)20 713 1222sue@proofpr.co.uk Suzi West +44 7966 111910Suzi.west@firstdatacorp.co.uk United StatesCara Taylor, +1-303-967-6367cara.taylor@firstdata.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange