Planning for the initial public offering (IPO) of a 25% chunk in AIB was at a late stage when the Government debated the timing for the launch of the €3bn sale.

Shares in AIB — which is all but fully owned by the State — could be sold in the next six to 12 months, despite some of the worst banking market conditions since the financial crash.

AIB says it’s in good enough shape for the first slice of the bank to be sold off later this year, and hopes that turbulent market conditions will have settled by then.

Bernard Byrne, the new chief executive at Allied Irish Banks, confirmed a so-called capital restructure is at an advanced stage, saying that the lender — bailed out at huge cost by Irish taxpayers — will be highly attractive when it returns to the market.

The failure of Digicel Group to launch its initial public offering (IPO) has raised questions about the reasons why Denis O’Brien decided not to go ahead.

Digicel Group, the mobile-services company owned by Denis O’Brien, is planning to raise $1.5bn-$2bn (€1.78bn) in an initial public offering as soon as this month, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien’s Digicel Group, the mobile-services company operating in the Caribbean and South Pacific regions, plans to sell shares in an initial public offering and to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

Fitbit, the maker of wearable devices that collect data on exercise and sleep patterns, is seeking to raise as much as $478m (€428.2m) in an IPO.

Eircom has said that no decision has been taken regarding its future ownership, despite reports suggesting it is planning to raise €1bn via a stock market flotation in September.