AIB is understood to have received up to 10 expressions of interest in relation to the sale and leaseback of the new office block it is building at its Ballsbridge headquarters.
The deadline for receipt of indicative proposals closed yesterday evening and the bank is expected to announce the outcome early next week.
Quinlan Private, which represents a number of high net-worth individuals and which last year acquired the Savoy Hotel group for €1.2 billion, is reckoned to be one of just a number of institutions and private equity partnerships that got documentation regarding this transaction.
AIB's private banking arm is also said to have been assembling a consortium of private investors to bid for the new five-storey block that will have the capacity to double AIB's workforce at the site to 4,000.
AIB's Goodbody Stockbrokers and Allied Irish Investment Managers have been marketing the investment proposal to private clients with an entry level investment of €500,000. The bank hopes to gain around €100 million through the deal.
Some investors weighing up this opportunity have expressed concern about the potential for AIB to emerge on both sides of this deal, as the bank would be the tenant.
When asked about the potential conflict of interest yesterday, a spokesman for the bank would only say that AIB is interested in "any offer which gives the best overall return to AIB".
There is the additional attraction for the individual investors in the private equity partnerships, in that they can tie the investment in to their pension.
It is understood that AIB will fund the construction of the building, which will then be sold on to the winning bidder. The bank will then lease back the block on a long-term lease arrangement.
This is the biggest investment deal ever done in Ireland on the basis of historical yields.
The €100 million profit will be a substantial boost for the bank's own lending business and, if posted to its tier-one capital ratio, would allow it in turn to advance loans of more than €1 billion, according to some sources.
They point out that the profits it generates from these activities will have been paid for by the bank's customers if they emerge in the winning consortium.
