The board confirmed it was in “exclusive” talks to sell BIL to “a group of international investors” with the Luxembourg state taking a minority stake. Belgian press reports say the negotiation partner is Qatar’s state investment fund and the asking price is 900 million euro. However, Dexia’s board did not confirm the reports and said a “binding offer” would only be put forward at the end of the two-week exclusivity period ending October 24.
The board also agreed that Dexia Bank Belgium should be sold to the Belgian state minus its Dexia Asset Management unit, which is based in the Grand Duchy. In its official statement on Monday morning, Dexia did not indicate if the subsidiary would be sold or not. However, financial analysts say the sale could garner between one and one-and-a-half billion dollars for the group.
Dexia also did not address the future of its 50 percent stake in RBC Dexia Investor Services, also based in Luxembourg.
In addition, Dexia accepted up to 90 billion euro in guarantees from the Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments to back its operations for the next ten years, pending European Commission approval.
Driven by the sovereign debt crisis, Dexia Group is being forced by the three states to sell its profitable operations.
Shares frozen
As of 10:00 on Monday morning, trading in Dexia shares remained halted on the Euronext bourse. Shares were suspended on Thursday, when press reports of the negotiations with the Qataris first cited, a spokesman for Belgium’s financial regulator told Delano. The FSMA will examine the board’s communiqué before deciding whether to allow trading to resume.
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