ABN Amro to buy NIBC Bank from Blackstone for €960 million

ABN Amro has agreed to buy NIBC Bank from US investment company Blackstone for around €960 million, the bank announced on Wednesday.

The takeover will expand ABN Amro’s mortgage and savings business and strengthen its position in the Dutch retail banking market, ABN Amro said in a statement.

The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026, if regulators and both banks’ works councils have given their approval.

NIBC was originally founded as the Netherlands Investment Bank after World War II to help rebuild the country and now specialises in mortgages and savings products. The bank has around 325,000 savings customers, 200,000 mortgage clients and 175 corporate clients across north-west Europe.

As part of the integration, ABN Amro will focus on its main mortgage brands, ABN Amro and Florius, and will discontinue its Moneyou label. The bank is also considering adding NIBC’s mortgage brand to its portfolio.

ABN Amro’s last major takeover was May 2024 when it bought German asset bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (HAL), for €672 million.

Chief executive Marguerite Bérard, who has headed ABN Amro since the end of April, said the takeover is a “unique opportunity” for the bank to strengthen its position on the retail banking market in the Netherlands.

State shareholding

The Dutch state is planning to reduce its stake in ABN Amro from 30.5% to around 20%, caretaker finance minister Eelco Heinen said in September.

ABN Amro was nationalised during the 2008 financial crisis, with the rescue deal costing the state nearly €27 billion. In 2015, the state sold a minority shareholding in the financial services group via a public offering and has since sold shares in several batches.

The previous reduction, earlier this year, means the state now has less influence over the bank, and ABN Amro no longer has to consult NLFI, which manages state shareholdings in ABN Amro and Volksbank, about takeovers, divestments and issuing new shares.