Allied Irish Bank Invests In Property Portal MyHome.ie

Lisa Ugur, Tax-news.com, London

08 January 2001

Allied Irish Bank (AIB) has invested over a I£1m in a new online property portal, MyHome.ie, which is to be launched this month. The I£1.8m investment gives AIB a 23 per cent stake in the e-business, which joins a growing list of high-profile, funded property websites aimed at the Irish market, such as Ascotfirst.com, which is backed by e-commerce incubator HotOrigin and has Irish Permanent as a minority shareholder.

MyHome.ie says it is aiming to be Ireland's most comprehensive daily updated property Web site, offering information including buying and selling a property and financial and legal services. AIB's General Manager of Electronic Banking, Billy Andrews, commented: 'This is an exciting project and offers an unparalleled proposition to customers. It is our strategic intent to be involved with e-business models that are aligned to our business and close to our customers'.

Jim Miley, chief executive officer of MyHome.ie and a former chief executive of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, added: 'AIB's participation secures the funding base for the new property portal and, together with the confirmed commitment of leading agents nation-wide, will ensure that MyHome.ie will be the market leader in property advertising on the Internet'.

AIB's investment in the new portal puts its value in excess of I£9.5m, quite a sum for a fledgling e-business which is not yet open for business.

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