Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
KBC Group is exploring an acquisition of Ethias NV, dismissing reports of a potential ABN Amro deal. The focus remains on strengthening their digital-first bank-insurance strategy.
(Reuters) -KBC Group said on Monday it is only exploring an acquisition of insurer Ethias NV after Bloomberg News reported that the Belgian lender was mulling a deal for Dutch rival ABN Amro Bank.
"We are continuously monitoring the market to identify opportunities that strengthen our unique digital-first bank-insurance group," a KBC spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.
"Currently, we are only studying a potential acquisition of the state-backed Belgian insurance company, Ethias NV," the spokesperson added.
Bloomberg News had reported earlier on Monday that Brussels-based KBC was considering the feasibility of a deal for ABN Amro.
In February, KBC CEO Johan Thijs told Reuters the bank was interested in buying Ethias "when they become available". The potential sale of Ethias has long been a point of political contention between its joint owners, the Flemish, Walloon and federal governments.
ABN Amro did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments.
The company, one of the three leading banks in the Netherlands, is currently valued at 21.56 billion euros ($25.38 billion) and KBC at 39.88 billion euros, according to LSEG data.
ABN Amro was nationalized during the 2008 financial crisis and subsequently re-privatized in 2015.
Earlier this month, the Netherlands cut its stake in ABN AMRO to about 20% from 30.5% previously, as part of a trading plan aimed at reducing the state's stake in the bank.
($1 = 0.8493 euros)
(Reporting by Yazhini MV and Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shinjini Ganguli)
An acquisition is a corporate action in which one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control of that company.
Market valuation refers to the process of determining the current worth of an asset or company based on its market price.
Insurance is a financial product that provides protection against financial loss or risk in exchange for regular premium payments.
A financial market is a marketplace where buyers and sellers engage in trading financial assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and derivatives.
A digital-first bank is a financial institution that primarily operates online, providing banking services through digital platforms rather than physical branches.
Explore more articles in the Finance category
