BRUSSELS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A Belgian court suspended the carve-up of troubled financial services group Fortis NV on Friday, ordering that shareholder approval must be sought, according to a lawyer involved in the case.
Fortis was carved up by the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg governments in October, with BNP Paribas SA buying the Belgian operations after an 11.2 billion euro ($14.86 billion) cash injection failed to calm investors.
Mischael Modrikamen, who brought a case on behalf of more than 2,000 Fortis shareholders, said the court of appeal had overturned a lower court's decision last month to let the deals go forward.
The appeal court suspended the resolutions that led to the dismantling of Fortis and ordered that shareholders convene on Feb. 12 to decide on the transactions. This would concern those who held Fortis shares by Oct. 14.
The Belgian state would be forbidden to sell Fortis assets to BNP Paribas before Feb. 16, 2009, and would face a 5 billion euro penalty if it did, Modrikamen said.
BNP would be obliged to maintain its interbank support for Fortis Bank, the arm in which it was to buy a majority stake.
A panel of five experts would assess the value of the assets involved in the transactions, presenting a preliminary report in 35 days and a final one by May 15.
'It's a substantial victory for shareholders,' the lawyer said. 'There will be shock waves through Belgium tomorrow.'
The Belgian government declined to comment. A Dutch finance ministry spokeswoman said the ministry would study the wording of the decision.
'But at this moment we assume there will be no consequences on the sale of the unit in the Netherlands as the sale was conducted according to Dutch law and not Belgian law,' she said.
Neither Fortis nor BNP Paribas were available for comment.
Shares in Fortis have fallen to less than 1 euro from almost 30 euros in April 2007 when the company launched its ill-fated joint bid for Dutch rival ABN AMRO, prompting the legal action.
Shareholders rejected a proposed chairman at rowdy meetings earlier this month as they voiced their anger at executives they hold responsible for their losses. They also argue they were short-changed by the state-led carve-up.
Senior Belgian officials have argued that Fortis faced collapse if the transactions had not been struck.
The crisis was acutely felt in Belgium where Fortis shares were the most widely held by individual investors.
Fortis was to have been left with just its international insurance business and a 66 percent share of a 10.4 billion euro portfolio of structured credit products.
($1 = 0.7537 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Foo Yunchee in Amsterdam, Tamora Vidaillet in Paris; Editing by Andre Grenon and Matthew Lewis) Keywords: FORTIS/ (philip.blenkinsop@thomsonreuters.com; + 32 2 287 6838; Reuters messaging: philip.blenkinsop.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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