AIB Group in merchant joint venture with First Data
Allied Irish Banks,p.l.c.("AIB") [NYSE: AIB] with a market leadership
position in financial services and card acquiring in the Republic of
Ireland, and First Data Corp.(First Data), a global leader in
electronic commerce and payment services, today announced that they
have signed an agreement to form a merchant acquiring joint venture.
The joint venture will trade as AIB Merchant Services in the Republic
of Ireland.
The new joint venture, based in Dublin, will provide card acquiring
services in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and elsewhere
in Europe and will deliver additional products and services and
enhanced functionality to AIB's 30,000 merchant customers. It will
also provide a compelling service offering for new merchants,
enabling further expansion of the bank's credit and debit card
acquiring business.
AIB's card acquiring business in the Republic of Ireland will form
the principal basis of the new joint venture. It is expected that
for the year ended 31 December 2007,AIB's card acquiring businesses
in Ireland and in the UK will process approximately 140 million and
13 million transactions respectively.
Completion of the transaction is conditional upon competition
approval, which is expected before the end of this year. As part of
the agreement, First Data will have an option to enable the joint
venture to acquire AIB's card acquiring business in the UK. The
total value of the gross assets of the Irish and UK businesses is
approximately EUR5.5 million. The transactionis expected to have a
neutral effect on AIB's earnings per share in 2008.
Both AIB and First Data will be involved in the day-to-day operations
of the new joint venture and will be represented on its board of
directors.
Welcoming the development, Donal Forde, Managing Director of AIB
Bank, Republic of Ireland Division, said: "This new initiative is an
exciting move for AIB as we continue to look for ways to enhance our
service offering for customers and expand our business. By
partnering with a leading global player like First Data, we are
positioning ourselves for substantial future growth in this business,
in Ireland, the UK and further afield. The combination of AIB's
strong track record in this business and First Data's global payments
and merchant acquiring expertise and world class systems will provide
the ideal platform for business expansion and profitable growth in a
Single European Payments Area (SEPA) environment."
Nadeem Shaikh, President, First Data, Western Europe, the Middle East
and Africa, added: "First Data seeks to partner with leading banks
across Europe and we are delighted AIB selected us for this important
new venture. The bank has recognised First Data's unique ability to
help accelerate the growth of its merchant acquiring business in
Europe and we will work closely with the skilled and experienced
staff at AIB to build a business of which we can all be proud."
AIB Corporate Finance Limited, which is regulated by the Financial
Regulator under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, acted as
financial adviser to AIB in relation to this transaction and A&L
Goodbody acted as legal adviser.
- * -
About First Data
First Data Corp. is a leading provider of electronic commerce and
payment solutions
for businesses worldwide. With operations in 38 countries, First Data
serves over 5 million merchant locations, 1,900 card issuers and
their customers. It powers the global economy by making it easy, fast
and secure for people and businesses around the world to buy goods
and services using virtually any form of payment. The company's
portfolio of services and solutions includes merchant transaction
processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and
other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication
solutions; receivables management solutions; electronic check
acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce
and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR Network offers
PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2 million ATM and retail locations.
For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.
About AIB
AIB Group is Ireland's leading banking and financial services
organisation. It operates principally in Ireland, the United Kingdom,
the United States and Poland. AIB's activities are conducted through
four major operating divisions:
AIB Bank ROI consists of the group's retail and commercial activities
in the Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man; AIB
Finance and Leasing and Card Services.
AIB Bank UK provides retail and commercial banking services in Great
Britain, where it operates under the name Allied Irish Bank (GB) and
in Northern Ireland, where it trades as First Trust Bank.
AIB Capital Markets comprises the Corporate Banking, Global Treasury
and Investment Banking activities of the Group as well as Allied
Irish America..
In Poland, AIB has a 70.5% shareholding in BZWBK which has over 380
outlets mainly in the mid-west and south-west of the country.
AIB also has a 25% stake in M&T Bank, one of the top regional banks
in the US.
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact:
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| Alan Kelly | Catherine Burke |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| General Manager, Group Finance | Head of Corporate Relations |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| AIB Group | AIB Group |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| Bankcentre | Bankcentre |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| Dublin 4 | Dublin 4 |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| Tel: +353-1-6600311 ext. 12162 | Tel: +353-1-6600311 ext. 13894 |
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First Data
Europe
Sue Finnegan, Proof PR +44 (0)20 713 1222
sue@proofpr.co.uk
Suzi West +44 7966 111910
Suzi.west@firstdatacorp.co.uk
United States
Cara Taylor, +1-303-967-6367
cara.taylor@firstdata.com
