Bank of Ireland has formally completed the £600 million sterling takeover of the Bristol & West Building Society in the UK. A new subsidiary of Bank of Ireland, Bristol & West plc, has now been created and has received a banking licence. Bristol & West's chairman, Lord Armstrong, and its chief executive, Mr John Burke, have joined the Bank of Ireland court of directors. Bristol & West members had the option of taking part of their payments in cash or preference shares. Bank of Ireland has disclosed that about a third of the shares allocated to the building society's members had been bought by the bank from members who opted to sell on the first day of trading.