PTSB completes ‘transformational’ purchase of Ulster Bank mortgages

Permanent TSB announced on Monday that it has “materially completed” its acquisition of Ulster Bank’s residential mortgage business, part of a deal for the exiting bank’s assets that will see the domestic bank’s loan book grow by close to 50 per cent.

The purchase of the performing non-tracker loans, worth €6.2 billion, was approved by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) over the summer.

The deal will see some 56,000 Ulster Bank mortgage customers move to PTSB with loans valued at €5.2 billon “being migrated” on Monday, the bank said in a statement. The remaining loans are expected to be moved over to PTSB in the second quarter of 2023.

Some 113 Ulster Bank employees have so far transferred to PTSB or its service partner Pepper Finance, the 75 per cent State-owned lender said, with another 230 staff entitled to transfer over the coming months.

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The acquisition represents the bulk of the €6.8 billion of Ulster Bank’s assets that PTSB has agreed to purchase as the NatWest-owned lender moves to wind down its Irish business.

PTSB has also received regulatory approval to buy Ulster Bank’s SME and asset finance business and 25 of its branches, acquisitions that chief executive Eamonn Crowley said on Monday were “imminent”.

In a statement, Mr Crowley said: “This is a transformational day for Permanent TSB as we work towards our ambition of being Ireland’s best personal and small business bank.”

It represents “a step-change for the bank because we are growing our mortgage book by approximately 40 per cent”, he said.

Mr Crowley said the purchase of Ulster Bank’s mortgage and SME business along with the addition of part of its branch network gives PTSB a “a significantly larger platform for future growth”.

PTSB raised €250 million of capital last month through the sale of the riskiest form of bank debt, as it looked to bolster its balance sheet in advance of the transaction. The lender has insisted that it will not need to raise additional equity through the sale of shares to complete the purchase.

Separately, PTSB said on Monday it has opened 100,000 new current accounts this year – a 250 per cent increase on last year – as former Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland customers continue to switch over to new account providers.