Permanent TSB Bank has confirmed this morning that it plans to raise €400m by issuing new shares as part of a public listing of its shares on the main Dublin and London stock markets, sometime within the next four weeks.
As part of the process, the bank will cancel the shares held by thousands of smaller shareholders that have been suspended at a price of 6c on the smaller ESM market in Ireland.
Existing retail or smaller shareholders will have the opportunity to purchase the newly-issued shares, but at the same price as institutional investors. That price has not yet been determined.
It’s understood that the strong interest shown by prospective Institutional investors in the new stock, could lead to the Government selling some of its existing 99.2 percent stake and raising up to €300m in the process.
The government will continue to hold a significant majority stake in the bank following the share placing, the proceeds of which will be used to repay a high-yielding €400m bond, issued as part of the Government’s bail-out of Permanent TSB when financial markets crashed.
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Simon Pratt, managing director of the Avoca luxury goods and restaurant group, has confirmed to the Irish Times that it is in talks with several parties about a possible sale of the business.
Mr Pratt said Avoca was not in exclusive talks with any potential buyer at this stage and that completed transaction could take a couple of months to complete
Aramark, the US-owned food service group is understood to be one of Avoca’s keener suitors.
Avoca, owned by the Pratt family, is currently generating sales of close to €60m from its 11 outlets around Ireland
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The Financial Times has reported that the Greek government is preparing options for a default on its sovereign debt unless it can reach a deal with its international lenders – the EU, the ECB and the IMF, by the end of this month.
It also reports that senior Greek officials will withhold the country's next scheduled loan repayment to the IMF of €2.5bn in early May, unless a resolution is achieved.
The report represents a ratcheting up of the high-stakes game of financial poker being played by the Greeks as the clock ticks towards a critical meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers next week, which is expected to make decisions on the issue
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Mr Musk, who founded PayPal and SpaceX, hopes that his company's new technologies can radically reduce the cost of space exploration.
A second attempt to launch the rocket will take place today at 21:10 GMT.
