AFP – The Dutch state will cut its share in the country’s third-largest bank to just under a third, ABN Amro said yesterday, 16 years after it was nationalised during the 2008 financial crisis.
The NLFI, the foundation holding the government’s stake in ABN Amro, will sell depositary receipts in the bank “through a pre-arranged trading plan”, Amsterdam-based ABN Amro said in statement.
The sales will reduce The Netherlands Financial Investment Foundation’s (NLFI) stake from 40.5 per cent to approximately 30 per cent, it said in the statement.
The announcement comes as speculation about bank fusions and takeovers grow across the European banking sector. However, the NLFI denied the gradual reduction of the state’s stake would make ABN Amro an easier target for potential takeovers.
A protective structure was set up in 2015, giving the foundation the power to temporarily revoke shareholder voting rights in case of a hostile takeover bid.
“The protective structure makes it more difficult to take over ABN Amro,” NLFI spokesman Bas van der Waals told AFP.
Italy’s second-biggest bank UniCredit surprised markets last month by building up a stake of about 21 per cent in its German rival Commerzbank, fuelling speculation it could be gearing up to launch a takeover bid.
