France's BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) will buy 75 percent of the Belgian banking arm of the troubled Fortis (FOR.BR) group as part of a deal in which Belgium will receive new shares in BNP Paribas, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said on Sunday.
Leterme told a news conference the Belgian government's new shares in BNP Paribas would be worth 8.25 billion euros and that it would emerge as the biggest single shareholder in the group with an 11.7 percent stake.
A Fortis portfolio of structured new products is to be transferred to a new vehicle in which the Belgian state will hold 24 percent, BNP Paribas 10 percent and the Fortis Group 66 percent, he added.
