William Fry is advising the Minister for Finance on the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of 25% of Allied Irish Banks, plc (AIB). The IPO will see a return by AIB to the main markets of the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. The Irish State owns 99.9% of AIB’s Ordinary Shares, having made various investments in AIB totalling c.€20.8bn since 2009. 

The William Fry team is being led by Corporate Partners Mark Talbot and David Fitzgibbon. Commenting on the deal, Mark Talbot stated that “having advised the Minister for Finance on the 2015 capital reorganisation of AIB, which marked the first meaningful return of capital from AIB to the State, we are delighted to be again acting for the Minister on what is likely to be one of the biggest IPOs in the U.K. and Ireland in recent years.”

It has been a strong H1 for William Fry’s Equity Capital Markets practice, having also acted for Glanbia Co-op on its recent €155m placing of c.3% of Glanbia plc. We are also currently acting on two yet to be announced IPOs on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges.