Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings has sold half of its 5.8% stake in Bank of Ireland for more than triple what it paid for it in 2011, a source with knowledge of the deal said.
Bank of Ireland shares closed lower after news of the deal.
The Canadian property and casualty insurer run by investor Prem Watsa sold 935 million shares for 36 cent each, the source said.
Bank of Ireland shares were down over 7.8% at 35 cent following the sale, which was managed by Deutsche Bank.
Fairfax bought an 8.7% stake in 2011 as part of a consortium including US billionaire Wilbur Ross when the shares were trading at 10 cent, and cut that to 5.8% last March.
The 2011 consortium bought a total 35% stake in the bank in the months after Ireland signed up to an EU/IMF bailout in a deal that kept the bank out of state control.
Ross sold his last 5.5% stake in Bank of Ireland last June at 26.5 cent per share.
