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As you all know, we took a series of measures last week with the governments of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg due to a strongly deteriorating market situation. Part of this was the decision to sell our shares in ABN AMRO.
This forced us to carefully look at our positioning in the Dutch market. Based on this review, we decided to sell the activities of Fortis Bank Nederland, ABN AMRO and Fortis Verzekeringen Nederland to the Dutch government. The decision taken today in best interest of our clients and staff is a second step towards a structured solution for Fortis.
The sale will bring an amount of 16,8 Billion euro which will strongly reinforce our financial position and allow us further strengthen the balance sheet and liquidity of Fortis.
We thank our clients for their patience and confidence, and the authorities for their continued support. We are convinced that the measures taken will provide the necessary stability for Fortis We are aware that the last months, weeks and days have been extremely difficult for you. During the last 18 months, many of you have made tremendous efforts to reassure our clients and provide them with the professional service they expect and deserve. For this we thank you most sincerely.
As a consequence of this transaction, we unfortunately have to say goodbye to our Dutch colleagues of Fortis Bank, of Fortis Verzekeringen and ABN AMRO. Many of us have built a strong relationship over the years and we would like to express our deep thanks to them and wish them the best for the future.
More information will be provided as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Filip Dierckx On Behalf of the Fortis Executive Committee
