Irish bank buys wealth manager for €138m

It will ‘continue to explore further opportunities’ in the life and pensions markets

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AIB Group has agreed to acquire Irish financial services provider Goodbody.

Goodbody, which manages assets of €8bn (£6.9bn, $9.7bn) and employs 300 people in offices across Ireland and the UK, provides wealth management, asset management and investment banking services to private and corporate clients.

AIB will acquire the entire share capital for a consideration of €138m, reflecting €82m enterprise value and around €56m excess cash on the balance sheet.

The bank said it “will continue to explore further opportunities, particularly in the life and pensions segments”.

‘Landmark deal’

Colin Hunt, chief executive of AIB, said: “The acquisition of Goodbody will greatly increase the group’s capacity to broaden its services to customers, while also enhancing the bank’s growth opportunities.

“This is a landmark deal for the bank, as AIB positions itself for expansion in Ireland, supporting our 2.8 million customers and ready to underpin Ireland’s economic recovery as we emerge from the covid-19 pandemic.

“While the group will optimise synergies to expand customer offerings for both existing AIB and Goodbody private and corporate clients, Goodbody will remain as a separately regulated entity with its own brand and board.”

The completion of the acquisition is dependent on regulatory approval.

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