The Netherlands is to take over all the Dutch operations of Belgian-Dutch financial service group Fortis. The state will pay €16.8bn for the acquisition.

The announcement was made by Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende after Friday evening’s cabinet meeting. The nationalisation means that the Dutch state is responsible for ABN Amro and the insurance arm of Fortis Nederland.
The agreement made together with the Belgian and Luxembourg governments at the weekend to rescue Fortis was broken open at the request of the Dutch, reports NOS tv.
Fortis will be sold on when the current crisis on the financial markets is over.
Fortis and ABN Amro have a combined market share of 40% in the small business sector. The three Fortis units taken over by the Netherlands employ 45,000 people, says the NRC.