AIB Group plc (ISE:A5G) is in talks to acquire Ulster Bank Limited’s low-profit €6.5 billion tracker loan book in the Republic, according to sources. The development comes a month after AIB agreed to buy €4.1 billion of corporate and business loans from Ulster Bank, as the latter goes about withdrawing from the market. Sources say that AIB will be expected to buy the book at a discount to reflect the fact that tracker loans are generating low returns, priced of the European Central Bank main rate, which is currently zero per cent. A spokeswoman for Ulster Bank and a spokesman for AIB declined to comment.