BoI may delist from ISE and LSE

BANK of Ireland said yesterday there is a risk the bank may delist from the ISE and LSE depending on participation in its proposed liability management exercise and rights issue.

“There is a risk that the free-float requirements of the Irish Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange which require 25% of a listed company’s shares to be held in public hands, will not be satisfied,” the lender said.

In such a case, the bank will examine obtaining a stockmarket quotation on a junior market such as the Enterprise Securities Market of the ISE, which doesn’t have a minimum shares-in- public requirement, the bank said.

Bank of Ireland, told by regulators to raise €5.2 billion of capital, said it plans to issue shares at 11.3 cents to 11.8 cents to subordinated bondholders taking up a debt-for-equity swap offer by the lender.

It will offer to buy back about €2.6bn of Tier 1 and Tier 2 subordinated debt securities. Bondholders taking up the offer will receive 10% of the nominal value of their securities in cash, or may opt for an equity alternative worth 20% of face value.

The bank said yesterday the exact equity conversion price will be announced on June 23. It expects the final results of the liability management exercise on July 8, the same day it plans to detail the size of a rights issue.

The bank is to scrap the sale of the ICS Building Society and extend the agreed disposal of New Ireland Assurance by a year, under a plan submitted to the European Commission.

Additional reporting Bloomberg and Reuters