AIB Group PLC on Thursday welcomed the Irish state trimming its stake in the lender, in what it labelled ‘another important milestone’.
The Irish government cut its stake in AIB by roughly 5.0%. It now owns 25.5%, cut from 30.5% previously.
The stake was sold through an accelerated book building process to institutional investors.
The placing price was €4.90, as a result gross proceeds from the sale will be €592.9 million.
‘This well-supported transaction is another important milestone in the normalisation of the share register and will yield a further €593 million for the Irish taxpayer to whom AIB owes an immense debt of gratitude for its support during the financial crisis. This brings the total proceeds returned to the state to over €16 billion,’ Chief Executive Officer Colin Hunt said.
‘We are in the first year of our new strategic cycle and our transformed group is well-positioned, generating sustainable profits, supporting our 3.3 million customers and delivering attractive shareholder returns.’
Shares in AIB were down 2.2% to 420.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. In Dublin, its shares were up 0.4% at €4.97 each.
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