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, the people said, while other potential bidders for shares in the bank could include banks, other institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, they added.
- The bank could be worth around 10 billion euros ($11.58 billion) based on its net profit in 2025 of 1.16 billion euros, one of the people said. Belfius was formed after the government bought the Belgian banking arm of Franco-Belgian lender Dexia in 2011 for 4 billion euros after the financial crisis.
- Spokespeople for CVC, Belfius and the Belgian government declined to comment.
- Lazard, which did not respond to requests for comment, is advising the government on strategic options for the bank that could include an IPO at a later stage, a third person said.
- The Belgian government has committed to increase defence spending to 2% of its GDP adhering to current NATO norms by 2029. Defence spending is currently around 1.3% of Belgian GDP, and has never reached the 2% level before. In June, NATO allies agreed to increase overall defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.
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Some European banks, such as BNP Paribas, trade at a discount to book value, around 0.76 times. Others, such as ING Groep and Julius Baer, trade at a premium, at 1.35 times and 1.8 times respectively, according to LSEG data. At a valuation of around 10 billion euros, Belfius book value would be 0.8 times given shareholder equity of 12.5 billion euros as of December 2025.
