PTSB says Austria's BAWAG among its potential bidders

Sale would result in the government exiting its 57.4% stake.

PTSB has put itself up for sale to capitalise on a rise in demand for its shares from international investors. Picture Andres Poveda

PTSB has confirmed that Austrian bank BAWAG Group is one of a number of parties interested in the group as part of a sale process launched in October.

The bank said it was responding to media speculation and there was no certainty that an offer would be made by BAWAG or any other party.

PTSB has put itself up for sale to capitalise on a rise in demand for its shares from international investors and to allow the government to sell the last of its shares in the sector.

It is, by some way, the smallest of the three Irish banks that emerged from the euro zone's biggest state rescue over 15 years ago. The sale, if successful, would result in the government exiting its 57.4% stake.

The bank said in October it had no conversations with potential buyers before launching the sale and that it expected the process to conclude in the first half of 2026.

Investors will be watching for signs of renewed interest in Ireland's highly concentrated banking sector, four years after Belgian lender KBC and British bank NatWest quit the market, and almost two decades since other foreign banks suffered big losses during Ireland's banking crash.

Reuters