First Active to delist as part of 887m takeover by Royal Bank of Scotland

THE bell tolls for First Active’s short life as a publicly-quoted company tomorrow.

Shares in the former First National building society will be traded for the last time in Dublin before the company delists on Monday as part of its 887 million takeover by Royal Bank of Scotland.

Investors who watched First Active shares jump by over 30% from 4.65 to 6.13, when details of the takeover were announced on October 6, will think kindly of chief executive Cormac McCarthy, who delivered a deal that few would have thought possible as recently as 2000. Back then, the share price languished around the 2 mark as a series of boardroom changes, high-profile departures and strategy rethinks left investors looking for the least painful way out.