Dutch State sells stake of about $1.8 billion in ABN Amro

The Dutch government sold a third stake in ABN Amro Group NV, taking advantage of a rally in the shares of the nationalized lender.

The sale of a 7% stake raised about 1.53 billion euros ($1.8 billion) for the state, cutting the country’s holding to about 56%. The government fetched the best price yet — 23.50 euros a share.

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An ABN Amro Bank location in Brussels, Belgium is seen here on Monday, November 4, 2002. ABN announced today that their quarterly profit rose for the first time in two years as the biggest Dutch bank cut costs and its U.S. business gained. Photographer: Paul O'Driscoll/Bloomberg News.

The state is trying to recoup some of the 22 billion euros spent propping up the bank during the financial crisis. Once one of the world’s biggest banks, ABN Amro has refocused its business on domestic lending since its near-collapse. Almost two-thirds of its loans relate to Dutch real estate, where limited supply, high demand and low interest rates have driven up prices.

Chief Executive Officer Kees van Dijkhuizen, who took over at the start of the year, has responded with cost cuts that include reducing the number of top executives by more than half. The disposal of private-banking assets in Asia and an expanding Dutch economy also helped the bank more than double profit in the second quarter.

Bailed out in 2008, ABN Amro returned as a publicly traded company in November 2015 when the government sold a 23% stake in an initial offering. The Dutch state plans to gradually sell down its holding and divested a further 7% stake in June for 22.75 euros a share.

ABN Amro has rallied about 14 percent this year, compared with a 8.9 percent gain in the Bloomberg Europe 500 Banks and Financial Services Index. The shares were trading 0.3 lower at 9:37 a.m. Friday in Amsterdam.

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