Finance
BNP Paribas increases stake in Belgium's largest insurer in $3.5 billion deal
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 8, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
BNP Paribas boosts its stake in Ageas to 22.5% in a $3.5 billion deal, enhancing its role in Belgium's insurance sector and expecting significant financial gains.
By Mathieu Rosemain and Inti Landauro
BRUSSELS/PARIS, Dec 8 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas plans to increase its stake in Belgium's largest insurer Ageas to 22.5% from 14.9%, cementing its position as top anchor investor in a two-leg transaction worth 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion), the companies said on Monday.
The deal involves France's biggest bank selling its 25% stake in AG Insurance to Ageas for 1.9 billion euros while simultaneously investing 1.1 billion euros into Ageas through its insurance subsidiary BNP Paribas Cardif, based on an agreed price of 60 euros per share. Ageas's share price closed at 56.9 euros on Friday.
For Ageas, the transaction gives it full control of Belgium's biggest insurer AG Insurance, while BNP Paribas pivots from direct ownership in AG Insurance to a stronger position in the parent company.
"We see significant potential in the growth prospects of BNP Paribas Fortis' bancassurance business through the partnership with AG Insurance," BNP CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said.
FREE CASH FLOW TARGET RAISED
The framework agreement signed on Sunday includes a renewed exclusive bancassurance partnership between AG Insurance and BNP's Belgian subsidiary. The companies will also form a new investment partnership between AG Insurance and BNP Paribas' asset management arm. The French bank will nominate one director to Ageas' board as part of the deal, Ageas said.
The euro zone's biggest lender by assets said the transaction would bring it a net capital gain after tax of 820 million euros in 2026 and boost its net income by 40 million euros annually on a recurring basis.
Due to the planned acquisition of AG's stake, Ageas raised its free cash flow target for 2027 to 2.6 billion euros from a previous target of 2.3 billion and expects to increase shareholder remuneration to 2.2 billion euros from 2 billion euros.
BNP became Ageas' largest shareholder last year after agreeing to buy a 9% stake in Ageas from China's Fosun Group.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, the companies said.
($1 = 0.8580 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Mathieu Rosemain;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Susan Fenton)
A capital gain is the profit realized from the sale of an asset, such as stocks or real estate, when the selling price exceeds the purchase price.
An insurance subsidiary is a company that is controlled by a parent company, which provides insurance products and services under its brand.
A stake in a company refers to the ownership interest that an individual or entity holds in that company, often represented by shares.
Net income is the total profit of a company after all expenses, taxes, and costs have been deducted from total revenue.
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