The
Belgian bancassurance group KBC is to be merged
with Almanij, its main shareholder, to form
a new company: KBC Groupe SA. With a stock market
capitalisation of some 21 billion euros, the
new company will rank among the top ten banks
in the Euro zone in terms of market capitalisation.
The creation of this new entity, KBC Groupe
SA, will enable the group not only to consolidate
its private banking business, which is currently
split between KBC Bank and KBL, the Luxembourg
subsidiary of Almanij, and its private equity
business (Gevaert and KBC Investco), but also
to rationalise its real estate activities.
