Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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280. To ask the Minister for Finance the advisers employed directly by a bank (details supplied) or his Department to provide advice or expertise related to the sale of the bank; the dates they were employed; the fees payable to each upfront or at the end of the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27780/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In December of last year, following a competitive procurement process, three firms were appointed by my Department to act as joint global coordinators to lead a selling syndicate in preparation for an AIB IPO.  On the 23rd of March this year I further announced the addition of five joint book runners and a co-lead manager to the syndicate.  The syndicate banks have been appointed until July 2018.  The three global coordinators lead the transaction performing most of the work, while the book runners and co-lead manager will help to ensure coverage of the broadest possible range of relevant investors both by type and geography when it comes to the marketing and sales effort.

The Deputy should be aware that in line with the State agreements with AIB, all fees incurred by the State in relation to an IPO transaction will be paid by the bank.

Fees are only payable to the syndicate on the completion of a successful transaction, and are proportional to the value of the transaction. As such it is not possible to provide an exact quantum of fees payable as no transaction has occurred yet. However the fees that have been negotiated by my officials are approximately 0.4% of the total transaction size. This is very competitive by reference to comparable transactions. The fee is split across all appointed syndicate banks and the number of firms involved, which is also within precedent, does not affect the overall fee level payable. The prospectus published by AIB estimates the potential fee with the assumption that the shares are listed at the mid-point of the published price range, which gives an indicative figure of €12 million.

Fees will also be payable to our independent financial advisor, Rothschild & Sons, appointed in December 2015 as well as communications advisers Gordon MRM and London-based Citigate Dewe Rogerson, appointed in January 2017. Legal advisers, William Fry, were appointed in February 2015 in relation to matters with respect to the State's investments in AIB. Details of the fees paid to these parties are disclosed on an ongoing basis under the procurement section of the Department's website: .

In addition to the above, AIB will also incur its own fees and expenses in relation to the initial public offering and these will include broker, corporate advisory, accounting and legal fees. These fees and expenses are a matter for the board and management of AIB, are borne by the company directly and are disclosed as part of their published prospectus. The prospectus is available on the AIB Investor Relations website here: .