LONDON/AMSTERDAM, March 6 (Reuters) - European private equity group CVC is weighing buying a stake in state-owned Belgian bank Belfius ahead of its possible listing, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The government is planning to sell a 20% to 30% stake in the bank, the people said, as part of efforts to raise billions of euros for defence spending.
* CVC has expressed interest in purchasing a stake, thepeople said, while other potential bidders for shares in thebank could include banks, other institutional investors andsovereign wealth funds, they added. * The bank could be worth around 10 billion euros ($11.58billion) based on its net profit in 2025 of 1.16 billion euros,one of the people said. Belfius was formed after the governmentbought the Belgian banking arm of Franco-Belgian lender Dexia in2011 for 4 billion euros after the financial crisis. * Spokespeople for CVC, Belfius and the Belgian governmentdeclined to comment. * Lazard, which did not respond to requests for comment, isadvising the government on strategic options for the bank thatcould include an IPO at a later stage, a third person said. * The Belgian government has committed to increase defencespending to 2% of its GDP adhering to current NATO norms by2029. Defence spending is currently around 1.3% of Belgian GDP,and has never reached the 2% level before. In June, NATO alliesagreed to increase overall defence spending to 5% of GDP by2035. * Some European banks, such as BNP Paribas, trade at adiscount to book value, around 0.76 times. Others, such as INGGroep and Julius Baer, trade at a premium, at 1.35 times and 1.8times respectively, according to LSEG data. At a valuation ofaround 10 billion euros, Belfius book value would be 0.8 timesgiven shareholder equity of 12.5 billion euros as of December2025.
($1 = 0.8638 euros)
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Jane Merriman)
By Amy-Jo Crowley and Charlotte Van Campenhout
