Belgium-based Fortis, a provider of banking and insurance services, has received approval from the European Commission for its acquisition of ABN Amro.
As part of the approval, the commission has imposed remedies on Fortis to address certain competition concerns in the commercial banking segment in the Netherlands.
A key element of the divestment is the proposed sale of Hollandsche Bank, 13 advisory branches and two corporate client departments, and the sale of the Dutch factoring company IFN Finance.
The scope of the divestment represents around 10% of the part of business unit Netherlands to be acquired by Fortis in terms of assets, income and initially projected revenue and cost synergies. The remedies imposed will not have any material effect on the post-acquisition planned integration of Fortis and ABN Amro.