One More Thing:Whichever way the cards fall in the long-running takeover saga that is Irish Continental Group (ICG), AIB appears well set for a slice of the action.
Eamonn Rothwell's €612 million cash offer for the ferry operator, which has been made by a company called Aella, is backed by debt provided by Allied Irish Bank.
Aella, which owns 20.9 per cent of ICG and is offering €24 a share for the company, is also being advised by Goodbody Corporate Finance, an AIB subsidiary.
Liam Carroll, meanwhile, has built a stake of almost 20 per cent in ICG through a group called South Morston Investment Company, which he owns with his wife Róisín.
Documents filed with the Companies Office show that South Morston secured a mortgage on August 8th with none other than AIB, presumably to meet the costs of Carroll's stakebuilding, which has continued in recent days.
The filings show that AIB has a charge over 3.1 million ordinary shares and 9.3 million preference shares.
For the record, the Moonduster consortium, comprising Philip Lynch's One51 Capital and the Doyle shipping group in Cork, has secured funding from Bank of Scotland (Ireland).
The Chinese walls inside AIB will ensure that there's no connection between Carroll and Aella. The bank's dual involvement, however, lends weight to the view that Carroll and Aella should cut a deal and put this takeover battle to rest.
