Irish Nationwide members set for windfall of over €10,000

Irish
Irish Nationwide members set for windfall of over €10,000
By Finfacts Team
Jun 12, 2006, 18:38

Printer-friendly page from Finfacts Ireland Business News - Click for the News Main Page - A service of the Finfacts Ireland Business and Finance Portal

Members of Irish Nationwide Building Society may get windfall of over €10,000 when the business is floated on the stock market.

The Government plans to publish new legislation which will allow the organisation demutualise. The building society has 100,000 members who are expected qualify for a payout.

Irish Nationwide wants to become a bank with shareholders and it has lobbied to have legislation changed so it can be taken over as soon as it makes that switch.

It is reported that the Cabinet agreed those changes last week, paving the way for a windfall when a bigger player buys it.

To qualify for the payout, a Nationwide customer has to have a share account with a certain level of savings, or a mortgage.

Last week Chief Executive Michael Fingleton said that he would prefer an overseas buyer for the company when legislation is passed paving the way for a €1.5 billion sale.

Fingleton said his preference would be for “a company with an overseas identity, no current business interests in Ireland but a desire to operate a branch network here” to acquire the company. He added that, whatever the outcome, the current management’s aim is to “maximise value for shareholders”.