DUBLIN: Bank of Ireland is in advanced talks to sell its IBI Corporate Finance unit to management at the State’s leading dealmaking firm. Sources have told The Irish Times the bank has been in negotiations for some months with IBI chief executive Tom Godfrey and managing director Ted Webb about a potential deal. They were not in a position on Friday to disclose the financial terms being discussed. News of the talks comes as Bank of Ireland’s chief executive of 8½ years, Richie Boucher, prepares to retire early next month, to be succeeded by HSBC executive Francesca McDonagh. As a unit of Bank of Ireland, the corporate finance company has been subject to Government-imposed pay restrictions at bailed-out lenders, in existence since 2009. Spokesmen for Bank of Ireland and IBI declined to comment on the talks. IBI, which was set up in 1966 as a joint venture between Bank of Ireland and merchant banks Morgan Grenfell and Schroders, is routinely named by specialist M&A publisher, MergerMarket, as Ireland’s top deal adviser, where its focus is on working with the sellers of assets.
Deals so far this year by IBI include advising on Glanbia’s disposal of 60 per cent stake in Dairy Ireland to its largest shareholder, Glanbia Co-Operative Society, valuing the business at €340 million, and the agreed sale of a majority stake in meat group Dunbia’s operations in the Republic to rival Dawn Meats. High-profile work by the company in recent years include advising the Government, along with Credit Suisse, on the offloading of its 25 per cent stake in Aer Lingus to International Airlines Group (IAG) in 2015. It was also among firms working with bookmaker Paddy Power on its €11 billion merger with Betfair, completed early last year. IBI’s website says that more than 80 per cent of transactions in which it is involved are cross-border in nature.
