WEEKEND DIGEST: AIB has held meetings with potential US and Asian investors about the sale of a stake in the bank, according to a report in the Sunday Independent.
The discussions have been described as “exploratory”, the article states. Canadian bank CIBC is thought to have made contact with the bank about buying a stake previously.
AIB chairman David Hodgkinson (above) told shareholders at the bank’s agm last week that AIB was “very keen to get new investors on board”.
* Irish renewable energy firm Gaelectric has kick-started a £60 million (€74.3 million) funding round to finance development of its projects in Ireland and the US, the Sunday Times reports. It is targeting private equity funders and trade partners, including Asian investors. Most of the funding will be used to develop its Irish wind farms, which are mainly located in Northern Ireland.
RBC Capital Markets, a unit of the Royal Bank of Canada, is to advise on the fundraising.
Gaelectric has been in business since 2004 and has raised about €45 million to date. The company’s management and staff, including founder and chief executive Brendan McGrath and his brother Eamonn, own 60 per cent of the business.
* The State’s corporate enforcer is to launch an investigation into the business activities of Seán Quinn and his family on foot of the contempt finding by the High Court, according to the Sunday Business Post. The office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement has been monitoring the case, the paper states.
