AIB, EBS announce terms of merger

AIB and EBS have this evening announced the terms of their merger to form one of two Irish ‘pillar’ banks.

The merger is a key part of the Government's banking restructuring plan, announced in March.

EBS will be a fully owned subsidiary and benefit from the full support of AIB, and it will continue to operate under the EBS brand.

The new entity will retain the EBS name, but because it will no longer be a building society it will be called EBS Limited.

The merger will take effect from July 1 and customers will be notified next week.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has welcomed the announcement saying it will leave both institutions better placed to meet the needs of Irish people.

EBS Chief Executive Fergus Murphy commented on the "significant" progress made so far.

"Upon acquisition of EBS, AIB will operate EBS as a standalone, separately branded subsidiary with its own branch network.

"Customers can continue to do business with us as they have always done and can be assured that their deposits remain fully guaranteed under the Deposit Guarantee Scheme and the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee Scheme," he said.