Investors to sit on BoI board

Representatives of two of the five investment firms which bought into Bank of Ireland last summer have taken seats on its board.

The State’s shareholding in Bank of Ireland was cut from over 42% to just 15% last year, on the back of a combined €1.12bn investment by five international investment firms — WL Ross, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Fidelity Investments, the Capital Group, and Kennedy Wilson. The consortium has a combined shareholding of 34.96% in the bank.

WL Ross head Wilbur Ross and Fairfax chief executive and chairman Prem Watsa have now been appointed to the Bank of Ireland board.