Jasper Juinen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Dutch government said on Tuesday it will reduce its stake in lender ABN Amro by a quarter to 30% through a trading plan.
The Dutch bank’s shares were trading 1.2% lower on the open market and were last down 0.6% at 9:15 a.m. London time.
The Dutch government, which currently has a 40.5% stake in ABN Amro, has announced through its investment vehicle NLFI that it will sell shares based on a pre-arranged trading plan to be implemented by Barclays Bank Ireland.
In September, the government had said it had sold about 1.17 billion euros worth of shares, bringing its shareholding below 50%. Some of the proceeds were used to pay off some of the government debts.
ABN Amro was saved by the state during the crisis Financial crisis of 2008 and later privatized in 2015. The government began reducing its shareholding in the company last year.
The lender became state-owned “to guarantee the stability of the financial system and not as an investment to make returns,” Finance Minister Eelco Heinen said in a letter to parliament, repeating previous statements about the government’s intentions.
To recoup the government’s total expenditure, the entire remaining stake would have to be sold at a price of 31.49 euros per share, Heinen said in September, adding that it is “not realistic” that such a price would be in the future will be achieved. short term.
At Monday’s closing price, the ABN Amro share price was 15.83 euros.
Upturn in shares
The banking sector has been in the spotlight lately UniCredit‘s move to take a stake in the German lender Commerzbank led to questions about cross-border mergers in Europe and the lack of a full banking union in the region.
Governments have taken advantage of a recovery in stock prices by selling their stakes in banks acquired during the financial crisis. The British and German governments have both taken steps this year to reduce their respective shareholdings NatWest and Commerzbank.
ABN Amro was the subject of speculation about takeovers last year, when media reports claimed that French bank BNP Paribas was interested in the Dutch lender. BNP Paribas denied the reports at the time.