Europe · Business news · Corporate · 05 Oct 2026
EU Financials
Irish lender Permanent TSB said on Monday that Dublin-based Axis Capital has made no offer for the bank and called its approach highly speculative and conditional. On October 2 Axis said it was weighing a possible cash offer of €3.20 a share, about €1.74 billion, against the €2.97 a share (about €1.62 billion) agreed with Austria's BAWAG, which PTSB shareholders approved in July. PTSB's board said it is proceeding to a High Court sanction hearing later this month.
The gap between the two prices is 7.7%, but Axis has said its funding is not committed and that it would not announce a firm offer until financing is certain. For PTSB shareholders the choice is between an approved, regulator-tracked sale and a higher figure without money behind it yet. For BAWAG the risk is a delay or a higher price for its entry into Irish retail banking. More broadly it is another contested cross-border bank deal in Europe, where buyers are paying for deposit franchises while lending margins are wide.
Reported by TipRanks — “Permanent TSB Rebuffs Axis Speculation as It Presses Ahead with BAWAG Takeover” ↗ on 05 Oct 2026.
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