PRELIMINARY BIDS for the EBS building society must be submitted today, with Irish Life Permanent (ILP) and a private equity consortium led by Cardinal Asset Management among the parties preparing indicative offers.

EBS and its advisers at NCB Corporate Finance, which is leading the process, have held discussions since March with Cardinal, the firm led by Dublin executives Nick Corcoran and Nigel McDermott.

The building society’s senior management team has also met executives from US private equity firm JC Flowers, an investor in distressed financial institutions, over recent months.

ILP re-emerged as a suitor for the building society last month after EBS expanded talks on a proposed investment with private equity interests to include other parties.

Several other private equity firms are thought to have eyed up a possible investment in EBS; at least three suitors are expected to table preliminary bids by today’s deadline.

ILP and EBS declined to comment, while Cardinal could not be reached for comment.

The Government has injected €350 million – €100 million in cash and €250 million by way of promissory notes, or IOUs – to maintain EBS’s capital ratios after incurring losses on the first loans transferred to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

The Government effectively took control of the society with the €100 million injection in return for a special investment share.

ILP is keen to find a home for its loss-making Permanent TSB and has proposed raising up to €900 million to preparing the banking unit for any proposed merger with EBS.

One option open to the Cardinal-led consortium is to propose a co-investment with the Government. The consortium is understood to be interested in the building society as its mortgage book is one of the healthiest across the domestic banking sector.