AIB share sale plan extended into 2023

• Published date: 24 June 2022

Originally set to run until July 10th, the share trading plan, which is being conducted on behalf of the State by US bank Merril Lynch International, will now run until at least January 24th, 2023, "unless further extended by the minister", the Department of Finance said in a statement on Friday

A similar strategy was used to sell down the Government's then-13.9 per cent stake in Bank of Ireland, announced in June 2021. That share trading plan was renewed in November 2021 and again in April this year, with the State's shareholding in the bank falling to below 3 per cent in recent weeks.

So far, the State has drip-fed AIB shares to the market, generating €161 million in the process and gradually reducing its majority stake in the pillar lender, - built up after rescuing AIB in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Since the commencement of the sale process, the State's shareholding in AIB has fallen from 71 per cent to 68 per cent.

Announcing the extension on Friday, Mr Donohoe said: "When I announced the launch of the share trading plan last December, I said that the State's exit from its investment in AIB would...