Permanent TSB's plan to acquire €7.6bn in Ulster Bank loans set for full competition probe          

Permanent TSB had finalised an agreement with Ulster Bank in December.

The plan by Permanent TSB to secure €7.6bn in loans and other assets from Ulster Bank is the latest banking deal to be referred to a full investigation by the competition watchdog amid significant concerns over a lessening of competition.                          

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, or CCPC, said the deal struck late last year will now be referred to a so-called full Phase 2 investigation "to establish if the proposed transaction could lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the State". 

Submissions on the deal can be made to the end of the month. 

Permanent TSB had finalised an agreement in December with Ulster to acquire €7bn in mortgage loans, 20 branches, and €600m in other SME loans and assets.

It is one of a number of deals that the existing lenders have struck after the bombshell decisions made last year by Ulster Bank and KBC Bank to close in the Republic. 

Their departure has led to widespread concerns that competition will lessen further in Irish banking.                 

The CCPC has already submitted plans by Bank of Ireland to acquire €9bn in mortgage loans from KBC to a full Phase 2 investigation and will likely also move to put plans by AIB which were confirmed late last month to secure €6bn in tracker mortgage loans from Ulster to a full investigation also. 

However, the watchdog cleared a deal by AIB to get €3.7bn in commercial loans from Ulster after a full investigation, but signalled its concerns over increased levels of market concentration.

Meanwhile, the Government's stake in Bank of Ireland has fallen below 4%, the lender said.