EBS sale ‘ongoing’ but no fait accompli

THE sale of the EBS is being viewed as an ongoing process as no real progress has been made this week despite reports that veteran American investor Wilbur Ross is to take control of the lender.

In an interview with CNBC, Mr Ross, who is part of a consortium led by Dublin-based company Cardinal Capital and international investment house Carlyle, confirmed he would like to buy EBS and would be open to looking at other investment opportunities in Ireland. However, he said CNBC’s reporting that he “will buy the troubled Irish Bank” appeared to be a touch of overenthusiastic editorialising.

While, four suitors are still in the frame for EBS – Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P) and private equity houses Doughty Hanson, the Cardinal consortium and JC Flowers – it is strongly suspected that IL&P and Cardinal will end up fighting it out for EBS in a two-horse race by the end of this month.