Ancora niente di nuovo...
SNS Reaal in Talks With Investors - WSJ.com
SNS Reaal in Talks With Investors
AMSTERDAM—Dutch bancassurer SNS Reaal NV SR.AE +0.26% Monday confirmed it is in talks with private investors in a bid to raise capital and avoid another unpopular government bailout.
The Utrecht-based SNS Reaal, the Netherlands' fourth-largest bank by assets, is struggling with heavy losses on commercial-property loans. The troubles have squeezed its capital position and ability to repay a €750 million ($1.01 billion) government bailout received during the 2008 financial crisis. After failed attempts to divest its insurance arm, fears are mounting that another government bailout is imminent.
Regulators have put SNS Reaal in the "too-big-to-fail" category, which means the government is required to come to the rescue should it appear to be on the road to failure. But the Dutch state is eager to avoid another unpopular bailout. It spent more than €45 billion on bank rescues during the global credit crunch, causing a public outcry and government debt to balloon.
SNS Reaal said it continues to look for a "comprehensive solution" to bolster its capital buffer, for example, by splitting off its loss-making Property Finance unit. The result will partly be determined by the valuation of the property-loan portfolio, it said.
"The efforts…are focused on a scenario that involves the participation of private investors," it said, adding that it might be combined with "a significant share issue" and a possible restructuring of outstanding subordinated debt instruments. "At this time it is unclear whether this scenario is feasible. No decisions have been taken yet," it said.
Some analysts said the outcome for SNS Reaal remains highly uncertain. "SNS makes clear that it has not found the solution at this moment," Rabobank analyst Cor Kluis said in a note. "Many scenarios are possible and nobody knows the outcome as there are many parties involved."
