Ulster Bank branches to be taken over by PTSB revealed as loan sale deal signed

The Ulster Bank branches to be taken over by Permanent TSB have been revealed, as its loan book is sold ahead of its exit from the Irish market.

UK banking giant the NatWest Group, the owner of Ulster Bank, has signed a binding agreement for PTSB to acquire about €6.8 billion of mortgages and business loans from Ulster Bank.

As part of the deal, the NatWest Group will take a 16.7 per cent stake in the Irish State-controlled lender, according to The Irish Times.

The deal will be funded by €6.4 billion of cash, plus NatWest taking an expected 90.9 million of new PTSB shares. That will give it the 16.7 per cent stake, worth about €136 million, based off PTSB’s closing share price on Thursday.

PTSB’s loan book will grow by 40 per cent, after more than a decade of shrinkage in the wake of the financial crash, and will see its branch network expand by 30 per cent as a result of the transaction as it acquires 25 of Ulster Bank's 88 branches in the Republic.

Ulster Bank employees in these branch locations will have a right to transfer if and when a deal is finalised. It is expected that 450 bank workers will be eligible to transfer to Permanent TSB. The remaining branches are likely to be shut.

A further 280 Ulster Bank employees will move to AIB as part of that bank’s agreed purchase of €4.2 billion of corporate loans. The Irish Times has previously reported that Ulster Bank is also in talks to sell its €6.5 billion tracker mortgage portfolio to AIB.

The transfer of branches to PTSB will take place in phases towards the end of next year and into 2023. Ulster Bank said they do not envision any redundancies or ranch closures in the first half of next year.

The list of the 25 Ulster Bank branches to transfer to PTSB, as reported by the Irish Examiner, is as follows: