REG - Irish Dept Finance AIB Group PLC - Further Renewal of the AIB share trading plan

AIBAnnouncement

09/01/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240109:nRSI0101Za&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 0101Z  Irish Department of Finance  09 January 2024

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, SWITZERLAND
OR ANY OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR
DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

 

Press Release

Further Renewal of the AIB share trading plan

The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath today announces the further extension
of the AIB Group Plc ("AIB" or the "Company") share trading plan into a fifth
phase. The trading plan has been one of a number of successful mechanisms used
by the State in reducing its shareholding in AIB since the beginning of 2022.

To date, proceeds generated from phase four of the AIB trading plan amount to
c. €124.7 million and the average price per share achieved is €4.23. These
proceeds will be returned to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund pending
further consideration by the Minister.

The trading plan has contributed to the State's directed shareholding in the
Company reducing from 71.12% at the beginning of 2022 to c. 40.8% currently.
In total, c. €824 million has been raised from the AIB trading plan since it
became operational in January 2022.

The extension announced today will become operational in the coming weeks and
will now end no later than 23 July 2024, unless further extended by the
Minister.

In announcing the extension of the trading plan, the Minister commented:

"The AIB trading plan has played an important role in enabling us to gradually
reduce our shareholding in the bank since it became operational, especially
when opportunities for larger block trades were not available to us.
Therefore, I am happy to announce the renewal of the trading plan into a fifth
phase. As before, we will continue to look at other disposal options, should
they present themselves."

In line with the Government's commitment to deliver best value for the
taxpayer, shares will not be sold below a pre-determined floor price, which
the Department of Finance will keep under review.

Merrill Lynch International ("BofA Securities") will continue to act on behalf
of the Minister in executing the trading plan. BofA Securities will continue
to target that up to, but no more than, 15% of the expected aggregate total
trading volume in the Company is to be sold over the duration of the trading
plan. The number of shares sold will depend on market conditions, amongst
other factors.

The Department of Finance is being advised by N.M. Rothschild & Sons
Limited and William Fry LLP in relation to this transaction.

 

ENDS

9 January 2024

 

 

For further information, contact:

Brian Meenan, Press Officer, Department of Finance

+353 87 2198857

pressoffice@finance.gov.ie

Important information

This press release, is not for publication or distribution, in whole or in
part, directly or indirectly, in, into or from the United States of America
(including its territories or possessions, any state of the United States of
America and the District of Columbia) (the "United States"), Australia,
Canada, Japan, the Republic of South Africa, Switzerland or any other
jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws
or regulations of such jurisdiction. The distribution of this press release
may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose
possession any document or other information referred to herein comes should
inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to
comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities
laws of any such jurisdiction.

This press release does not contain or constitute an offer of, or the
solicitation of an offer to buy, the securities referred to herein to any
person in any jurisdiction, including in the United States, Australia, Canada,
Japan, the Republic of South Africa, Switzerland or in any jurisdiction to
whom or in which such offer or solicitati0n is unlawful.

The securities of AIB Group Plc described in this press release have not been
and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended
(the "Securities Act"), or any applicable state or foreign securities laws and
may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an
exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There
shall be no public offering of securities in the United States or any other
jurisdiction.

Merrill Lynch International, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation
Authority (the "PRA") and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial
Conduct Authority (the "FCA") and the PRA, is acting exclusively for the
Minister for Finance and no one else in connection with the trading plan and
will not regard any other person(s) as its client in relation to the trading
plan and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Minister for Finance
for providing the protections afforded to clients of Merrill Lynch
International nor for providing advice in relation to the trading plan.
Neither Merrill Lynch International nor any of its directors, officers,
employees, affiliates, and/or agents owes or accepts any duty, liability or
responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in
tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person(s) in connection with the
trading plan or the content of this announcement, other than to the Minister
of Finance.

N.M. Rothschild & Sons Limited ("Rothschild & Co"), which is
authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting
exclusively for the Minister for Finance and no one else in connection with
the trading plan and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Minister
for Finance for providing the protections afforded to clients of Rothschild
& Co, nor for providing financial advice in connection with the trading
plan. Neither Rothschild & Co nor any of its directors, officers,
employees, affiliates, alliance partners and/or agents owes or accepts any
duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect,
whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person(s) who
is/are not a client(s) of Rothschild & Co in connection with the trading
plan.

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  MSCSSDFWAELSELF