Blackstone lowers €1.36bn bid for Dutch bank after Covid-19 threatens completion

Under the terms of the new deal, Blackstone would be required to pay €46m in damages if regulators do not approve the transaction or if it’s scrapped for certain other reasons. NIBC and Blackstone said there is no certainty whether agreement would be reached on the amendment.

Blackstone agreed to acquire NIBC in February, at an 8% premium to the bank’s closing price on 13 February. As part of the deal, NIBC’s two largest shareholders, US private equity group JC Flowers and Reggeborgh Invest had agreed to sell their combined 75.3% stake in the bank. The deal had been expected to close in the second half of the year.

Under the previous proposal, JC Flowers was going to receive €8.93 per share and Reggeborgh would be paid €9.65 per share.

However, the buyout group warned in April that the outbreak had created substantial uncertainty over the business plan it had agreed with NIBC, casting doubts over whether regulators would actually approve the proposal.

NIBC serves around 600 mid-market businesses and more than 400,000 retail clients, according to its website. The bank’s share price was down 7.50% to €7.03 at 10.00 BST on 8 June.

Source: PENews