REG - AIB Group PLC - AIB Group plc announces €1.2bn Directed Buyback

AIBAnnouncement

Thu 07:01

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250508:nRSH7878Ha&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 7878H  AIB Group PLC  08 May 2025

 

 EMBARGO 07:00  8 May 2025

 

AIB Group plc announces €1.2 billion directed buyback

 

Off-Market Purchase of 191,671,857 Ordinary Shares from the Minister for
Finance

AIB Group plc ("AIB" or the "Company") has agreed with the Minister for
Finance (the "Minister") to make an off-market purchase for total
consideration of €1.2 billion of 191,671,857 ordinary shares of €0.625
each in the capital of AIB ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of €6.2607 per
Ordinary Share ("Off-Market Purchase").

The purchased Ordinary Shares represent approximately 8.2 per cent of the
Company's issued share capital. The Off-Market Purchase is expected to settle
on 9 May 2025.

A share purchase deed ("Buyback Contract") between AIB and the Minister was
approved by the shareholders of AIB at the Annual General Meeting held on 1
May 2025 and signed on 7 May 2025. The Off-Market Purchase has been approved
as a related party transaction by shareholders of AIB in accordance with the
requirements of the Irish Companies Act 2014. Regulatory approval was received
from the European Central Bank.

AIB intends to cancel the 191,671,857 purchased Ordinary Shares.

Following completion of the Off-Market Purchase

·    AIB will have in issue 2,136,766,718 Ordinary Shares. AIB has no
shares held in treasury;

·    The Minister will own approximately 3.3 per cent of AIB's issued
share capital; and

·    The Minister will hold 271,166,685 warrants to subscribe for Ordinary
Shares, representing, if exercised, approximately 12.7% of the Company's
issued share capital.  As a result of the Off-Market Purchase, the exercise
price of the warrants has reduced from €7.455 per Ordinary Share to €6.752
per Ordinary Share.

Related Party Transaction

The Minister is a substantial shareholder in AIB for the purposes of the UK
Listing Rules, as a result of having been within the 12 months prior to the
Off-Market Purchase entitled to exercise, or to control the exercise of, 20%
or more of the votes able to be cast at general meetings of AIB.

The board of directors of AIB (the "Board") confirms that it considers that
the Off-Market Purchase is fair and reasonable as far as shareholders of AIB
are concerned, and that the Board has been so advised by Morgan Stanley &
Co. International plc as UK sponsor to AIB.

 

Colin Hunt, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are very pleased to make a
payment of an additional €1.2 billion to the State through the buyback of a
further tranche of AIB shares. This agreement with the Minister for Finance
follows a €500 million directed buyback in September 2024 and a €1 billion
directed buyback in May 2024. Today's development represents another important
milestone in the process of repaying the taxpayer for their support, the
normalisation of the Group's share register and enhancing liquidity in AIB
shares.

After reporting a strong performance in the first quarter, we are building
great momentum in our business, supporting our 3.35 million customers, the
Irish economy, and delivering significant shareholder returns."

 

 
                           --ENDS--

For further information, please contact:

 

 

 Niamh Hore / Siobhain Walsh             Paddy McDonnell / Louise Kelly
 Investor Relations                      Media Relations
 AIB Group plc                           AIB Group plc
 Dublin                                  Dublin
 Tel: +353-86-3135647 / +353-87-3956864  Tel: +353-87-7390743 / +353-87 216 1545

 

 

 

Forward Looking Statements

 

This document contains certain forward looking statements with respect to the
financial condition, results of operations and business of AIB Group (the
"Group") and certain of the plans and objectives of the Group. These forward
looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only
to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements sometimes use words
such as 'aim', 'anticipate', 'target', 'expect', 'estimate', 'intend', 'plan',
'goal', 'believe', 'may', 'could', 'will', 'seek', 'continue', 'should',
'assume', or other words of similar meaning. Examples of forward looking
statements include, among others, statements regarding the Group's future
financial position, capital structure, Government shareholding in the Group,
income growth, loan losses, business strategy, projected costs, capital
ratios, estimates of capital expenditures, and plans and objectives for future
operations. Because such statements are inherently subject to risks and
uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward looking information. By their nature, forward looking
statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and
depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of
factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. These are
set out in the principal risks on pages 17 to 20 in the 2024 Annual Financial
Report. In addition to matters relating to the Group's business, future
performance will be impacted by the Group's ability along with governments and
other stakeholders to measure, manage and mitigate the impacts of climate
change effectively. Future performance could also be impacted by geopolitical
tensions and global conflict. Any forward looking statements made by or on
behalf of the Group speak only as of the date they are made. The Group
cautions that the list of important factors on pages 17 to 20 of the 2024
Annual Financial Report is not exhaustive. Investors and others should
carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and events
when making an investment decision based on any forward looking statement.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCARMTTMTIMTBA