AIB sale stalled by poll impasse
Just weeks before the election campaign, Finance Minister Michael Noonan had pledged to start the sale process for an initial sale of 25% of AIB as soon as the former coalition returned to power.
However, that was before the full onset of the global stock market slide had become clear. European bank shares were hit hard, placing big question marks over the wisdom of selling down AIB shares.
Shares in Deutsche Bank lost a third of their value this year, while Royal Bank of Scotland — the Ulster Bank owner which is majority-owned by the UK government — have shed about a third of their value.
Rothschild was appointed late last year to advise the Government on the best timing for any initial public offering of shares in AIB. Many IPOs have been pulled across the world since last summer, as fears grow about the outlook for the global economy. A decision about AIB will be made by a new incoming government.
The AIB valuation comes in the latest update issued yesterday by the State agency, the Irish Strategic Investment Fund. Its so-called directed portfolio, which comprises the funds taxpayers injected into the banks during the crisis, was valued at a total of €13.5bn at the end of 2015.
That includes the €11.7bn value ascribed to AIB, the State’s stake in Bank of Ireland which was then valued at €1.5bn, and over €200m in cash.
