Bank of Ireland has agreed to sell its loss-making UK financial advisory business, Chase de Vere, for €130 million less than it paid for the company five years ago.

The sale to German financial services group AWD comes as part of a wider review of Bank of Ireland's UK operations.

Bank of Ireland acquired Chase de Vere at the height of the stock-market boom in 2000, paying €160 million for the Bath-based company. It has now agreed to sell the firm for €30 million, having estimated last year that the disposal could raise between €15 and €25 million.

Chase de Vere has passed through a troubled recent history, in line with problems in the wider UK financial advisory sector.

The firm's accounts for the year to March 2004 show a pre- tax loss of £12.9 million (€18.1 million) on turnover of £31.5 million. The previous year saw a loss of £14.8 million on sales of £23.6 million. In addition, Chase de Vere was fined £165,000 by the Financial Services Authority over a marketing issue in 2004.

Roy Keenan, chief executive of Bank of Ireland UK Financial Services, said the sale of Chase de Vere formed part of the group's strategy of focusing on core operations. Bank of Ireland is thought to have wanted to close the sale before the end of its financial year on March 31st.

AWD chief executive, Carsten Maschmeyer, yesterday described Chase de Vere as "a pearl".

"It was cheap because of the problems it has had," he said.

 (Additional reporting, Financial Times service)