Abbey National has rejected the detailed takeover proposal bid that the Bank of Ireland published this morning.
Britain's sixth-largest bank said its negative view of the bid had not changed but that it will continue "to examine carefully the additional detail provided".
Earlier, the Bank of Ireland revealed details of the informal takeover offer it made last week. The deal offered shareholders £1.30 sterling (€2.03) a share and valued Abbey National at €16.3 billion.
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Bank of Ireland chief executive, Mr Mike Soden.
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The bank said savings generated by bringing the two groups together would reach as high as £634 million before tax.
But the Abbey National said today's announcement did not provide any material new information beyond that contained in the initial informal merger approach received by Abbey on September 19th.
Abbey said its still considers the strategic fit between the two banks "questionable" and cost and revenue synergies "limited".
"In the board's view, Bank of Ireland's financial resources would bring little to a group of Abbey National's scale and complexity," Abbey National said.
The proposed new merger would create the 13th-largest company in the FTSE Index of shares.
Bank of Ireland said the new group would be based in Dublin and led by its chief executive, Mr Mike Soden. Management would be "drawn from the best of both organisations".
Governor of the Bank of Ireland Mr Laurence Crowley said: "We believe that our proposal would create significant value for Bank of Ireland stockholders and would produce greater value for Abbey National's shareholders than a standalone strategy".
Mr John Kelly at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin said: "While the cost synergies seem reasonable, the market is unlikely to give Bank of Ireland the benefit of the doubt on the proposed revenue synergies". "One-off costs of achieving the estimated synergies are expected to be €559 million, which looks high," he said.
Shares in Bank of Ireland rose 4 per cent on the Dublin stock exchange today, up 40 cents to €10.
Mr Stuart Draper of Dolmen Butler Briscoe said both Bank of Ireland and Abbey National could themselves be targeted by bigger British banks such Lloyds TSB or Barclays.