PTSB shareholders vote by 91% to sell the bank to Austrian group

Sat Shah, Deputy CEO of Bawag Group with Eamonn Crowley, CEO of PTSB. Picture: Chris Bellew/Fennell

PTSB shareholders have agreed to the sale of the company to Austrian banking group BAWAG for €1.6bn at an extraordinary general meeting held in Dublin on Thursday.

A formal sale of the bank was launched in October last year and in April the board accepted the acquisition offer by BAWAG in an all-cash offer to acquire the entire share capital of PTSB. The move was backed by Finance Minister Simon Harris. The Government still holds 57% of the company.

Chair of PTSB Julie O’Neill told shareholders that the BAWAG deal is the best offer the bank had received and the only offer on the table to be voted on.

She said that while some may be concerned that there is value being left on the table “the fact is that the only deliverable value is what the market is willing to pay”.

“The offer before you today is the highest deliverable offer.” Ms O’Neill added that they did not decide to recommend the BAWAG offer to shareholders lightly.

The purchase price is for €2.97 per share, a 26% premium on the bank's share price, resulting in an overall price tag of €1.6bn. The State is expected to receive around €931m from the sale of proceeds for the State.

BAWAG already had a presence in Ireland as it already owned mortgage provider MoCo.

Ms O'Neill said the BAWAG deal is the "best value for shareholders" and the financial terms "are compelling" providing a "meaningful premium of 93% to the share price of €1.54 on April 14 2025".

With this vote, the Government will fully exit its shareholdings in the three pillar banks it rescued following the financial crisis.

The Government finalised its divestment in AIB in the summer of last year when the bank's shareholders voted to buy back the State's remaining 2% in the bank. The State fully divested from Bank of Ireland in 2022.

One shareholder complained that they believed the share sale price was "too cheap" and questioned why the board is selling the company for so little.

Ms O'Neill responded by saying they ran a thorough sale process and the determination was made by the board that it was the "right time" to move. She reiterated that this was the best price on offer.

She added that "while we'd all like to see a higher price" the current sale price is the one the market was willing to offer.

Chief Executive of PTSB Eamonn Crowley added that even after the BAWAG offer came in, other bidders could have come in and made an offer for the bank but "the market wasn't there".