AMSTERDAM—ABN Amro Group NV looks set to be returned
to private hands, nearly seven years after the Dutch lender was
nationalized at the height of the financial crisis.
The Dutch government said Friday it intends to sell a 20%-30%
stake in the bank through an initial public offering in Amsterdam,
likely before the end of this year. The remaining stake will be
gradually sold in the following years.
"The time is ripe to put ABN Amro back on its feet," Dutch
Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at a new conference.
"There is sufficient interest from the market and the bank is
healthy again."
Chief Executive Gerrit Zalm said a stock-market listing is the
best option for selling ABN Amro and "a logical step in the bank's
development."
The sale still needs to be approved by the Dutch parliament.
With a book value of around €15 billion ($16.7
billion), ABN Amro's listing could be one of the biggest-ever IPOs
in Amsterdam. It also highlights the recovery of the Dutch banking
industry, which was hit hard by the financial crisis of 2008.
ABN Amro is a remnant of the former ABN Amro Holding NV, a
global banking giant that was acquired and broken up in 2007 by a
group including Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Banco Santander SA and
Fortis SA/NV. The €71 billion takeover was the
largest-ever in the industry and proved nearly fatal for RBS and
Fortis when the financial crisis struck a year later.
The government seized the Dutch assets of Fortis and hired Mr.
Zalm, a former finance minister, to rebuild ABN Amro into a
smaller, domestically focused bank.
ABN Amro will be equipped with measures that enable it to
protect itself against hostile takeovers. Mr. Dijsselbloem said the
measures are necessary to avoid a repeat of the ill-timed takeover
of 2007, even as it could weigh on the proceeds of the sale.
Two months ago, Mr. Dijsselbloem postponed a decision on the
sale following criticism from lawmakers about a salary increase for
some of ABN Amro's board members. The bank subsequently renounced
the pay rise, and Mr. Zalm last week apologized for the
controversy.
Mr. Dijsselbloem said the apology and a strong financial
performance in recent quarters helped to restore confidence in ABN
Amro, clearing the way for the bank's privatization.
ABN Amro last week reported an underlying net profit of
€543 million for the first three months of 2015, a 44%
increase compared with the same period last year. The bank said the
period was the most profitable quarter in four years.
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com
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