By Amy-Jo Crowley and Charlotte Van Campenhout
LONDON/AMSTERDAM, March 6 (Reuters) - European private equity group CVC CVC.AS 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.
Some European banks, such as BNP Paribas BNPP.PA, trade at a discount to book value, around 0.76 times. Others, such as ING Groep INGA.AS and Julius Baer BAER.S, 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.
($1 = 0.8638 euros)
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Jane Merriman)
((amy-jo.crowley@thomsonreuters.com))
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