AIB selloff: a tempting morsel for British banks

The Irish government is selling off its stakes in rescued banks. That’s an opportunity for the brave, says Matthew Lynn.

Branch of Allied Irish Bank
British banks should make a move into Ireland
(Image credit: © Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In the quiet week leading up to Christmas, the Irish government said it plans to start selling off part of its 71% share of Allied Irish Banks (AIB). Over the course of the next month, slightly over 3% of the equity will be placed on the market, and, if it goes well, we can expect to see the rest of the shares steadily sold off over the next few years. This raises a question: why don’t the British banks make a move and buy it up?

The go-go years

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.