DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will hold open the possibility of selling a 25 percent stake in state-owned Allied Irish Banks (I:ALBK) next year with any sale depending on market conditions, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Thursday.
Earlier this year Dublin pushed back the likely timetable for partially cashing out its 21 billion euro investment in the 99 percent state-owned bank to 2017 but Noonan cast doubt last month on whether that would be achievable.
"On AIB, I'm asking them to continue the preparatory work. There'll be no IPO in 2016, but I'm holding open the possibility of an IPO sometime in 2017 but that will depend on the advice I receive and on market condition," Noonan told parliament.