The Department of Finance holds a 57.5% stake in PTSB. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

PERMANENT TSB HAS confirmed that two US investment groups are still in the running to buy the State-backed bank.

In response to media speculation over the weekend, PSTB said in a statement this morning that Lone Star, a Texas-based private equity firm, and a consortium of US funds Sixth Street and Centerbridge are participating in its ongoing ‘Formal Sale Process’ (a public-facing auction designed to sell the bank to a new owner).

Austrian bank Bawag is also understood to be preparing a binding offer. PTSB confirmed earlier this month that the central European firm is also in the running.

PTSB stressed that no firm offers have been made, and that there is no certainty a sale will happen.

The process is aimed at finding a buyer capable of supporting the bank’s “next phase of its growth and strategic development”.

The bank said customers will not be affected, with day-to-day operations continuing as normal.

Permanent TSB is the last major state-owned bank in Ireland, as the government sold its shares in Bank of Ireland in 2022 and in AIB last summer. The Department of Finance currently holds a 57.5% stake in PTSB, which it is looking to sell.

All three bidders have some history in Ireland.

Lone Star previously owned a large Irish residential property business and sold its majority stake in Quintain Ireland (which has since rebranded to Evara, the country’s largest privately owned developer) in 2024 for over €200 million.

Sixth Street has backed Cullaun Capital, a Dublin-based lender focused on housing and nursing home projects, while Centerbridge has invested in Irish property developments.

Bawag operates in Ireland through its online MoCo branch.

Final binding offers on PTSB are expected in the coming days, after which the bank will choose a preferred bidder and move to formalise the sale.