By Antonia van de Velde
BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Shareholders of Fortis on Wednesday rejected the state-led deals that carved up their stricken financial group, delivering a potentially fatal blow to BNP Paribas's expansion plans.
Shareholders first voted against the purchase by Netherlands of Fortis's Dutch assets.
Then, by a wafer-thin majority, they rejected the Belgian state's acquisition from Fortis of the whole of Fortis Bank. Some 49.7 percent of capital present voted for this deal.
Acting Fortis Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels said it made no sense to proceed to the third and final part of the carve-up -- BNP Paribas's purchase of 75 percent of Fortis Bank from the Belgian state and a stake in the Belgian insurance operations from Fortis.
Some 5,000 investors gathered at an exhibition hall on the northern outskirts of Brussels and spent five hours in mostly heated debate with much shouting.
Fortis's largest shareholder, Chinese insurance company Ping An, had already said it plans to oppose the deals with its 4.99 percent stake. Shareholder groups had argued their members could give the 'no' camp a majority.
The Belgian government, the successor to the previous administration brought down by the Fortis debacle in December, has been desperate for the deals to go through.
Investor groups accused the government and Fortis of forcing shareholders to back the carve-up with doom-laden warnings about the consequences of a 'no' vote.
(Writing by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Will Waterman and Hans Peters) Keywords: FORTIS/ (philip.blenkinsop@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6838; Reuters messaging: philip.blenkinsop.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. 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.
BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Shareholders of Fortis on Wednesday rejected the state-led deals that carved up their stricken financial group, delivering a potentially fatal blow to BNP Paribas's expansion plans.
Shareholders first voted against the purchase by Netherlands of Fortis's Dutch assets.
Then, by a wafer-thin majority, they rejected the Belgian state's acquisition from Fortis of the whole of Fortis Bank. Some 49.7 percent of capital present voted for this deal.
Acting Fortis Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels said it made no sense to proceed to the third and final part of the carve-up -- BNP Paribas's purchase of 75 percent of Fortis Bank from the Belgian state and a stake in the Belgian insurance operations from Fortis.
Some 5,000 investors gathered at an exhibition hall on the northern outskirts of Brussels and spent five hours in mostly heated debate with much shouting.
Fortis's largest shareholder, Chinese insurance company Ping An, had already said it plans to oppose the deals with its 4.99 percent stake. Shareholder groups had argued their members could give the 'no' camp a majority.
The Belgian government, the successor to the previous administration brought down by the Fortis debacle in December, has been desperate for the deals to go through.
Investor groups accused the government and Fortis of forcing shareholders to back the carve-up with doom-laden warnings about the consequences of a 'no' vote.
(Writing by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Will Waterman and Hans Peters) Keywords: FORTIS/ (philip.blenkinsop@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6838; Reuters messaging: philip.blenkinsop.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. 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.