Deal to sell EBS called off

A proposed deal to sell the EBS building society will not now go ahead.

The Cardinal Consortium says it had offered a substantial equity investment of more than €600m to EBS and also committed to an extensive and expertly constructed multi-billion euro funding and restructuring programme to strengthen the society's long term funding base.

However the group says it was notified by the National Treasury Management Agency today that the deal is off as it wasn't sufficiently commercially attractive to the State.

The Cardinal Consortium said that it is disappointed at the outcome.

"The consortium wish to express its extreme disappointment at the outcome of this extended and extensive sales process," it said in a statement.

"The funding and capitalisation programme was based on the recognised international expertise of the consortium and its international advisors in managing and funding distressed financial institutions.

"The consortium demonstrated a commitment and goodwill to Ireland and the troubled banking sector during this extended sales process and offered much needed capital and expertise to the State in a manner which would have minimised the already significant burden on the Irish taxpayer and which would have aligned the interest of the State with the consortium.

"The consortium wish to recognise the extensive work and significant contribution of the EBS executive team who worked on this project.

"EBS has a viable and important role to play in the Irish financial sector."