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PARIS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas , France's biggest listed bank, said on Monday it was paying 14.5 billion euros ($20.1 billion) to take control of European financial group Fortis and boost its European market share.
BNP Paribas will buy control of Fortis's banking businesses in Belgium and Luxembourg for 9 billion euros, funded through the issuance of 132.6 million new BNP Paribas shares.
The French bank will also buy Fortis Insurance Belgium for 5.5 billion euros in cash, it said in a statement.
It added that the takeover would boost earnings from the first year and would improve its capital ratios, enabling BNP Paribas to become the euro zone's largest deposit bank.
The transaction would also see 10.4 billion euros worth of Fortis's most impaired assets within the structured credit portfolio ring-fenced.
BNP Paribas shares closed up 9.4 percent at 71.35 euros on Friday, giving the bank a market capitalisation of around 65 billion euros.
The stock has fallen around 4 percent since the start of the year, compared to a 32 percent decline in the DJ Stoxx European bank sector .
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