PTSB shareholders get permission in €400m share challenge

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Three PTSB shareholders, Gerard Dowling, Padraig McManus, and Piotr Skoczylas, were granted permission by Mr Justice Paul Gilligan in the High Court to serve short-service proceedings against the respondents. Their challenge concerns the bank’s proposed €400m share placing to institutional investors ahead of listings in London and Dublin. The proceedings were reported on 15 April 2015.

The shareholders seek an injunction preventing the Irish Stock Exchange from allowing new shares resulting from the share issue. They also seek to restrain the company from issuing new ordinary shares to raise €400m to repay the Minister for Finance in respect of a contingent bond due for redemption in July 2016, until certain steps are taken. They want sales of non-core assets restrained until approved by a general meeting of PTSB Group Holdings.

The respondents are Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc, all members of its board, including CEO Jeremy Masding, and the Irish Stock Exchange plc. The application was made on an ex-parte basis and was returnable the following week.