Degroof Petercam rumoured to be partly or wholly up for sale
Belgian bank Degroof Petercam is rumoured to be considering selling a stake of 10% or more, De Tijd reported, citing several unnamed sources.
Degroof Petercam is partly owned by many small shareholders, including Belgian families, and current and former employees. These shareholders had the option once a year to sell their shares but because of stricter rules this is no longer possible, the report said. In order to help these shareholders - plus a necessary costly investment in its IT system - has led the bank to consider divesting part of its shares, the article cited the sources as saying.
There are also rumours that the bank could be wholly put up for sale, the report said. Interested bidders are rumoured to be Belgian bank Belfius and the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. The Swiss bank Pictet was also mentioned by some sources, the report said.
Some sources claimed that an advisor to guide the sales process has already been appointed. Other sources have denied this, the item added.
A buyer would have to pay several billions of euros for the bank. Degroof Petercam in 2017 had a net profit of EUR 86m. It manages assets of EUR 55bn. Around 1,370 people in eight countries are employed by the bank.
Link to report.