By ALLISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

Allied Irish Banks PLC hopes to raise roughly $2 billion when it sells its 22.49 percent stake in M&T Bank Corp.

But it still unknown who will buy the stake.

The Dublin-based bank said in a statement released early today that it plans to price 26.7 million notes at $77.50 per note. Each note will be exchanged for one share of M&T common stock that AIB currently owns. The proposed "disposal" is subject to AIB shareholder approval, which could come during a meeting set for Nov. 1.

The bank said last week it would sell its stake through a public offering. The offering is part of the bank's strategy in raising capital, as demanded by the Irish government.

AIB became a major shareholder in 2003 when M&T acquired its U.S. unit, Allfirst Financial Inc., based in Baltimore. That acquisition helped M&T push into Baltimore and Washington, D.C., markets.

Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as underwriters and joint bookrunning managers for the offering.

Media reports in recent weeks speculated that Spanish financial giant Banco Santander SA expressed interest in purchasing AIB's stake. Santander would then have merged its U.S. arm, Sovereign Bank, with M&T Bank. However, discussions have supposedly stalled over disagreements about which bank would control the merged institution.

The value of AIB's shake in M&T was valued at $2.15 billion as of June 30.