Thursday morning, Luxembourg’s finance minister and Dexia confirmed negotiations were under way with “an international investor” to take over BIL, with the Luxembourg state holding a minority position. Thursday afternoon, the Qatari sovereign wealth fund was identified as the potential buyer by the Flemish daily De Tijd.
Facing huge Greek sovereign debt exposure, Dexia is being forced to sell its Luxembourg-based units as part of a Franco-Belgian government bailout plan.
Negotiations have also begun over the fate of RBC Dexia Investor Services, a joint venture 50 percent held by Dexia and 50 percent by Royal Bank of Canada, the newspaper reported. RBC holds preemptive rights to any sale of Dexia’s stake.
The sale of Dexia Asset Management is more complicated, as it is a joint venture half held by Dexia Bank Belgium and half by Dexia BIL. UK private equity firm CVC has made informal contacts about taking over Dexia AM, De Tijd said.
Delano’s messages with the press offices of CVC and Qatar’s investment fund were not immediately returned.
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