ABN Amro Valued at $17.9 Billion After IPO Pricing

AMSTERDAM—ABN Amro Group NV priced its initial public offering at 17.75 euros a share, just below the midpoint of a proposed range, valuing the state-owned Dutch bank at 16.7 billion euros ($17.9 billion).

The offering will raise €3.3 billion for the Dutch government, which is selling 188 million shares in ABN Amro, or a 20% stake. The listing's underwriters have the option of buying an additional 3% stake.

The pricing came in just below the midpoint of the expected range of €16 to €20 a share. ABN Amro shares are set to start trading Friday morning on Amsterdam's stock exchange.

The valuation, slightly higher than ABN Amro's book value of about €16 billion, means the share sale will be one of the largest-ever listings in Amsterdam and one of the biggest bank IPOs in Europe in years.

T he offering comes about seven years after ABN Amro was nationalized at the height of the financial crisis, when the Dutch state spent nearly €22 billion to support the bank. It highlights the gradual but slow return to health of the Dutch banking industry, which was hit hard by the financial crisis.

The Dutch government has said it would likely take several years before it has fully sold its ABN Amro stake, though it is unlikely to fully recoup the money it spent on the bank.

Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 20, 2015 02:15 ET (07:15 GMT)

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