EBS Building Society delayed a deadline for second-round takeover offers after bidders asked for additional time, two people with knowledge of the talks said.
Bids for the Dublin-based building society had been due today, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The bank set a new deadline of August 20th, the people said.
EBS is seeking to raise €785 million to meet new capital standards set by the Financial Regulator. The country's lenders are raising money after a decade-long real-estate boom collapsed, leaving banks saddled with unprecedented writedowns.
JC Flowers, a US leveraged buyout firm, UK competitor Doughty Hanson, Irish Life and Permanent and Cardinal Asset Management submitted proposals in the first round of bidding, a person familiar with the talks said on July 15th.
Gerry O'Sullivan, a spokesman for EBS, and Ray Gordon, a spokesman for Irish Life, said they couldn't comment. Spokesmen at JC Flowers and Doughty Hanson in London declined to comment.
Messages left at Cardinal's Dublin office weren't immediately returned.
Bloomberg