FORTIS LIKELY TO POSTPONE BNP PARIBAS VOTE AFTER COURT RULING

Belgium-based financial services group Fortis will probably postpone a shareholder vote scheduled for April 9 in Brussels that would have decided whether to accept the sale of Fortis’ Belgian banking business to French bank BNP Paribas, Fortis spokeswoman Kathleen Steel said today. The Fortis statement came after the Brussels Court of Appeal decided yesterday that only shareholders who held stock in Fortis at the time of the October break-up would be allowed to vote on the renegotiated deal. That decision was thought to make it more likely that the BNP Paribas deal would be rejected. Shareholders blocked the previous proposed deal with BNP Paribas, despite warnings from the Fortis executive that rejecting it could bring about the end of the company. Under the new deal, Fortis Bank would obtain a 25% stake in Fortis Insurance Belgium.