(Reuters) -KBC Group said on Monday it is only exploring an acquisition of insurer Ethias NV after Bloomberg News reported that the Belgian lender was mulling a deal for Dutch rival ABN Amro Bank.
“We are continuously monitoring the market to identify opportunities that strengthen our unique digital-first bank-insurance group,” a KBC spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“Currently, we are only studying a potential acquisition of the state-backed Belgian insurance company, Ethias NV,” the spokesperson added.
Bloomberg News had reported earlier on Monday that Brussels-based KBC was considering the feasibility of a deal for ABN Amro.
In February, KBC CEO Johan Thijs told Reuters the bank was interested in buying Ethias “when they become available”. The potential sale of Ethias has long been a point of political contention between its joint owners, the Flemish, Walloon and federal governments.
ABN Amro did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
The company, one of the three leading banks in the Netherlands, is currently valued at 21.56 billion euros ($25.38 billion) and KBC at 39.88 billion euros, according to LSEG data.
ABN Amro was nationalized during the 2008 financial crisis and subsequently re-privatized in 2015.
Earlier this month, the Netherlands cut its stake in ABN AMRO to about 20% from 30.5% previously, as part of a trading plan aimed at reducing the state’s stake in the bank.
($1 = 0.8493 euros)
(Reporting by Yazhini MV and Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shinjini Ganguli)
