Bank of Ireland Sells Stake to Investors for $1.61B

Ireland agreed to sell a 37 percent stake in the Bank of Ireland IRE to an investor group for 1.12 billion euros ($1.61 billion), a day before a rights offering was set to give the government majority ownership of the lender, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Monday. The sale keeps the country's largest bank out of state hands. The government had been widely expected to take control of Bank of Ireland, the last domestic lender outside of state ownership, after it agreed to underwrite a rights issue, the results of which are due on Tuesday.