Austria's BAWAG confirms interest in Irish bank PTSB (updated)
18/03/2026 10:53
Updates with confirmation that BAWAG Group is a potential bidder DUBLIN, March 18 (Reuters) - Austrian bank BAWAG Group AG BAWG.VI said on Wednesday it has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Irish bank Permanent TSB PTSB.I as part of a sales process launched last October. BAWAG said the proposal could lead to an offer but that was undecided at this stage. Earlier, PTSB said BAWAG Group AG BAWG.VI was one of a number of parties interested in the group. PTSB has put itself up for sale to capitalise on a rise in demand for its shares from international investors and to allow the government to sell the last of its shares in the sector. It is by some way the smallest of the three Irish banks that emerged from the euro zone's biggest state rescue over 15 years ago. The sale, if successful, would result in the government exiting its 57.4% stake. The bank said in October it had no conversations with potential buyers before launching the sale and that it expected the process to conclude in the first half of 2026. Investors will be watching for signs of renewed interest in Ireland's highly concentrated banking sector, four years after Belgian lender KBC KBC.BR and British bank NatWest NWG.L quit the market, and almost two decades since other foreign banks suffered big losses during Ireland's banking crash. (Reporting by Graham Fahy Editing by Mark Potter and Tomasz Janowski) ((graham.fahy@thomsonreuters.com;))