Federal government initiates partial privatisation of Belfius

State-owned bank Belfius has been given the green light to “take the next step in the preparations” for the sale of up to 20 per cent of its shares. This decision was taken by the core cabinet on Friday, confirmed the office of finance minister Jan Jambon on Friday evening.

"The federal government has authorised Belfius to take the next step in the preparations for the opening up of its capital by up to 20 per cent. At the same time, (the Federal Participation and Investment Company, ed.) FPIM is also being asked to start its preparations for such a capital opening," announced the Jambon office. The Belgian state is the sole shareholder of Belfius through the FPIM.

According to the French-language public broadcaster RTBF, which was the first to report the news on Friday, the operation could yield more than 2 billion euros.

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When it took office, the federal government decided to sell a series of shareholdings to feed a defence fund. At the request of minister Jambon, Belfius has been preparing since last summer to open up part of its capital.

Belfius has not yet responded to the news. However, the bank has been advocating partial privatisation for years. Belfius CEO Marc Raisière said last summer that Belfius prefers a sale to private investors.

^{Illustration © PHOTO ANP / Hollandse Hoogte / Peter Hilz}

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