Spanish ready to buy AIB stake

SPANISH bank Banco Santander – Europe’s biggest – is the front runner to buy AIB’s stake in Polish bank Zachodni WBK, in a head-to-head bidding war Poland’s biggest bank PKO BP which could garner €2.5 billion for the troubled Irish bank.

But AIB is also set to lose €181 million in the sell-off of its 49.9% stake in the Bulgarian American Credit Bank. AIB paid €216m for its stake in the bank in mid-2008 and its value has fallen to just €35m. AIB confirmed it was seeking a buyer, but stressed the sale is unconnected to the disposal of its 70% stake in Poland’s Bank Zachodni.

AIB is in a race to sell-off what it has termed non-core assets by the end of the year as it strives to raise €7.4bn to shore up its capital base and avoid the necessity of the Government taking a majority stake in the bank.