With a dedicated team of over 140 professionals, AIB Corporate Banking is a full-service corporate bank mandated to serve both domestic corporate clients as well as international corporates who choose Ireland as a place to do business. Our competitive advantage is our customer centric relationship model.

Each corporate client has a dedicated relationship manager who is responsible for the entire interaction that our clients’ have across AIB Group. We invest time to fully understand our clients businesses and strategy so that we can tailor our banking offering to suit those banking demands. We assist and advise across the entire suite of corporate banking products.

Domestic corporate bank
AIB Corporate Banking is sectoralised and has specific teams with many years of experience servicing key sectors such as: Food & Agriculture; Renewable Energy; Hotels; Transport; Retail; Telecoms & Technology; Commercial and Residential Property; Healthcare; Licensed Trade; Film Finance and many more. We provide tailored corporate banking solutions to the numerous sectors that we operate in and are delivering new business. We are significant lenders to all of the above sectors and will provide continued strong support over the coming years.

As well as adding value to client relationships using our financial and sectoral knowledge, we also contribute to sectors in other ways. This was recently evidenced when AIB released a series of "Outlook Reports" in Residential Property, Technology, Energy Efficiency for Business, Licenced Trade, Dairy and Hotel sectors.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Ireland continues to be a global beacon when it comes to foreign direct investment (FDI) with 161,000 jobs in Ireland provided by FDI companies and a further 112,000 to domestic companies which support FDI companies (Source:- www.idaireland.com ). It is hard to over-emphasise the importance of multinational companies to the health of “Ireland Inc”, as they now account for over 70% per cent of our exports. AIB recently commissioned IPSOS MRBI to conduct research into attitudes to Foreign Direct Investment In Ireland. The research found that 97% of FDI companies recommend Ireland as a country to locate. It also found that AIB is the leading Irish bank to FDI companies.

Market developments
In the last 18 months, we have seen a market upturn in activity in the corporate banking space which is being driven by three separate dynamics:

1. Firstly, a stabilisation in the domestic economy which is resulting in an increased demand for debt facilities from our existing and target client base. On the back of this we are seeing increased levels of M&A/CAPEX activity in the market which is improving the deal flow and providing new lending opportunities.

2. Also, as a number of traditional corporate banking players continue to leave the market there is an opportunity for a pillar bank like AIB to refinance excellent customer relationships which will no longer be serviced by these exiting banks. AIB has already executed a number of very attractive refinancing arising from this market dynamic, and are actively targeting a large number of companies who find themselves in this position and intend to close more throughout 2014/ 2015.

3. There is also an influx of hedge funds and pensions funds seeking to buy up or provide corporate type debt. As such we are now encountering a new type of competitor in the market place. However through our customer centric relationship banking model we believe clients will see the value in having a long term banking partner intent on supporting the execution of the their business plan.

New Business - supporting the recovery
AIB Corporate Banking is now very much focussed on, and is providing new facilities to both existing and new clients. This focus was rewarded earlier this year when for the second consecutive year Finance Dublin awarded its prestigious 2014 Deal of the Year (‘Loans & Financing- Mid Market Category’ Award - Doyle Shipping transaction).

This was a complex transaction executed in a tight time-frame further demonstrating AIB's ability to deliver for its clients.
To support our corporate growth strategy we have established a New Business Origination Team whose sole focus is to support non-AIB banked clients to achieve their future plans.

This team, headed up by John Delahunty, has been well received by the market and is well regarded for its ability to deliver financial solutions on complex transaction to tight time-frames.

While the economy is showing signs of stabilisation we recognise that there are still significant challenges out there, but we in AIB Corporate Banking are committed to supporting our valued client base through good times and bad. We look forward to playing a significant role in the recovery of Ireland and in helping our customers realise their ambitions.