The Irish government announced a price range for Allied Irish Banks that could value the bank as high as $14.9 billion when it goes public this month—seven years after it was nationalized.
The initial public offering is an important milestone in the recovery of the Irish banking system, which nearly bankrupted the country after the financial crisis of 2008.
“The time is right to move to the next stage in AIB’s IPO process as market conditions remain favorable, and I am encouraged by the strong level of interest shown by investors in the offering to date,” Michael Noonan, the Irish finance minister, said in a statement Monday.
The Irish government injected 21 billion euros, or $23.5 billion, into Allied Irish Banks, one of Ireland’s largest lenders, in 2009 and 2010 as it suffered under the weight of property loans that went bad amid the financial crisis. The government now owns about 99 percent of its shares.
After rescuing its banks, Ireland was forced to seek its own bailout, receiving 67.5 billion euros from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Ireland emerged from the international bailout program in 2013.
The Irish government said it expected to price the offering of Allied Irish Banks from 3.90 euros to 4.90 euros a share. That would imply a market capitalization of 13.3 billion euros at the upper end of the range.
The offering, of 679 million shares, will be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange in Dublin and the London Stock Exchange. Conditional trading of the shares is expected to begin June 23.
“A successful transaction would represent an important milestone in our journey to dispose of our banking investments and ultimately recover all the money the Irish state has invested in AIB,” Noonan said.
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