Belfius and Ethias will not be merged before the State of Belgium sells part of its bancassurance group, Finance Minister Jan Jambon told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Jambon was briefing the legislators on parts of Saturday’s government agreement that fall under his remit, including the planned sale of 20% of Belfius. The French-speaking liberal Mouvement Reformateur (MR) has also pushed for a merger between Belfius and Ethias, another publicly owned financial group.
The Federal Holding and Investment Company, SFPI-FPIM, commissioned an expert to examine that proposal. The conclusion was that launching such a merger now would not be appropriate at this stage of the Belfius process.
With the partial privatisation already under way, Jambon said it would be legally difficult and highly questionable to pursue a merger without an open, transparent sale process. He added that it would also not be possible to carry out proper due diligence.
“The merger process between Ethias and Belfius and the procedure to sell 20% of Belfius’s capital cannot be carried out at the same time,” Jambon said. “Privatising Belfius without first integrating Ethias is in the interest of the state and of both companies.”
As agreed overnight between Friday and Saturday, the Finance Minister will contact the Flemish and Walloon regions, which are also shareholders in Ethias. He also referred to the potential of the company’s IT subsidiary, Keyes, to become a “digital champion.”
MR appears isolated in backing the merger idea, with no support from the other parties in the governing coalition. Jan Bertels of Vooruit said the minister had made it “very clear” that the two processes should not happen simultaneously and that this was clearly stated in the report.
From the opposition benches, Frédéric Daerden of the Socialist Party said he was reassured by the minister’s comments.
MR did not address the issue directly in committee, with its parliamentary leader Benoît Piedboeuf referring Green MP Meyrem Almaci to party president Georges-Louis Bouchez for a response.
Jambon said he hoped to complete the Belfius procedure by the end of the year. Left-wing opposition parties again criticised the privatisation of a bank that was rescued during the financial crisis with public money.
Kemal Bilmez of the far-left PTB accused the government of acting out of ideology rather than pragmatism. He said ministers were pressing ahead despite the lessons of the past in order to fund higher defence spending.
The report commissioned by SFPI-FPIM is expected to be made available to parliament, but will probably only be accessible in a reading room because of confidentiality concerns. Green politicians have already criticised that restriction.
