Danske silent on BOSI’s swoop

THE new owner of National Irish Bank (NIB) yesterday defended itself against suggestions it had paid over the odds to gain access to the Irish retail banking market, following Bank of Scotland’s dramatic entrance on Wednesday.

Danske Bank said yesterday it had “no view” on Bank of Scotland’s swoop to buy ESB’s ShopElectric chain of retail outlets and turn them into a nationwide branch network. The €120 million move came just two weeks after Danske’s €1.4 billion takeover of the combined NIB and Northern Bank operation was cleared by watchdogs. The value of the NIB part of the deal was estimated at €500 million.

Danske’s offer was perceived as relatively high when details of the NIB takeover were announced in December. Sources close to the takeover process said buyers’ appetites waned when they considered the high asking price being sought by its then owner, National Australia, and the full extent of the challenges facing NIB in building market share. Danske said at the time of the takeover that it was attracted to NIB by its branch network and position in the market. Its plans centred on taking market share from competitors from the start of 2006, when its 200 million IT investment programme is scheduled for completion in both NIB and Northern. NIB has 134,000 customers and 800 staff.

But Bank of Scotland’s move gives it a network of 54 outlets and a useful springboard in the ESB’s portfolio of 185,000 customers, who have bought and financed electrical goods through its retail business. It has also offered jobs to more than 400 ShopElectric staff and promised an extensive training programme to redirect their retail skills into the financial services market.

Bank of Scotland (Ireland) chief executive Mark Duffy said the bank had weighed up the option of taking over NIB and Northern when they came up for sale, but instead spotted a better strategy for opening a distribution network of its own. The bank plans to open a number of branches from scratch to address gaps in the ShopElectric network, but is not expected to take the total above 60.

Danske Bank shares fell 5% on the Copenhagen market on Wednesday, the day the Bank of Scotland deal was announced, but analysts said this was largely due to technical factors related to the bank’s dividend payment policy.