THE Department of Finance has appointed panels of bankers and stockbrokers to advise on the sale of its stakes in Ireland's bailed-out banks.

The financial advisers, a mix of international and domestic firms, are being appointed to three panels.

Specific underwriters and advisors to work on sales of the State's stakes in AIB, Bank of Ireland and, eventually, Permanent TSB will be selected from the panels.

Those appointed to the first panel on capital markets, strategic M&A and restructuring advice, include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

The second panel, entitled general financial advice, includes Ernst & Young, Goodbody, KPMG and BlackRock Solutions, while the third panel, capital markets distribution services, also includes Davy stockbrokers and specialist bank Investec.

The Department of Finance said the appointment of the advisors should not be seen as a signal than any sale is about to take place.

"The appointment of panels of financial advisors may be regarded as prudent planning to ensure that the State is in a position to receive necessary advice in a timely and cost efficient manner," the Department said. "It should not be seen as a signal that any transaction, or a series of transactions, is imminent."

The panels will operate for a period of three years.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said last month he was considering the sale of part of AIB, which was effectively nationalised in 2010 in the wake of the country's property crash.

The Government owns over 99pc of the bank.

The Irish Independent last week reported that Ciaran Callaghan - an analyst with Merrion Stockbrokers who was previously with the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) - said there could be a sale of between 25pc and 30pc of the bank through a partial stock market flotation.

The bank is now likely to command a price on the market of around 20pc more than its so-called book value, which was €11.229bn at the end of July, according to Mr Callaghan.

That is based on a peer comparison with Bank of Ireland, which trades on the market at a price equal to 1.4 times its net asset value.

At €3.4bn, even a partial flotation of AIB would be among the biggest ever on the Irish Stock Exchange, but would still leave the bank in majority state hands.

Politically, timing a deal to recoup cash from AIB ahead of a general election could prove a boon to the Government.

Irish Independent