Belgium is seeking to get rid of assets in banks bought out during the global financial crisis, including 5.7% in BNP Paribas SA. This is reported by foreign media.
Belgium's stake in BNP is estimated at 5.4 billion euros ($6.1 billion), with a current market value of 95 billion euros for BNP. The government has already considered the possibility of selling the BNP stake in 2025 to finance the defense fund, but in the end decided to sell 20% of Belfius shares.
Belgium became the main shareholder of BNP Paribas as a result of a 2008 deal in which the French bank gained control of Fortis, the largest Belgian financial services company at that time.
Over the past few years, the share prices of European banks have increased significantly, prompting the governments of many countries in the region to sell the shares they had owned for 20 years, in particular, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA in Italy, Commerzbank in Germany and ABN Amro in the Netherlands.
In 2025, Belgium recorded the highest budget deficit in the eurozone, at 5.2% of gross domestic product. In 2028, this figure may rise to 5.7%.
BNP Paribas is a French financial conglomerate that, together with Credit Agricole, Société Générale and Groupe BPCE, is one of the "big four" of the French banking market. The headquarters is located in Paris (France).
Read our Telegram channel "Mergers and Acquisitions. AK&M».
Our channel at MAX is "Mergers and Acquisitions. AK&M».
