BNP Paribas is preparing a major reshuffle of its insurance footprint in Belgium, announcing a €3 billion two-part transaction that will lift its stake in Ageas — the country’s largest insurer — to 22.5% from 14.9%.

The move, confirmed by both companies on Monday, positions Europe’s biggest bank by assets as the dominant anchor shareholder in one of Belgium’s most influential financial firms.

At the center of the deal is a swap that effectively consolidates Ageas’ control over its core insurance engine while giving BNP Paribas a firmer hold on the parent company. BNP Paribas will sell its 25% stake in AG Insurance to Ageas for €1.9 billion. To simultaneously deepen its influence at the group level, the French bank — acting through its insurance arm, BNP Paribas Cardif — will invest €1.1 billion into Ageas at an agreed price of €60 per share.

Ageas’ stock closed at €56.9 on Friday, giving BNP a slight premium but also securing its position with enough heft to shape the company’s future.

For Ageas, this is a transformative moment. AG Insurance is the beating heart of its Belgian operations, and full control of the unit gives it maximum autonomy to push ahead with long-term strategic plans, particularly in life insurance, pensions, and corporate risk. The transaction also allows Ageas to reorganize capital allocation across the group, which it signaled by raising its 2027 free cash flow target from €2.3 billion to €2.6 billion and lifting its shareholder distribution goal from €2 billion to €2.2 billion.

BNP Paribas, meanwhile, is betting on the long runway of bancassurance growth in Belgium — a segment that combines banking and insurance products under a single distribution umbrella and has been a profitable pillar for the group for years through BNP Paribas Fortis.

“We see significant potential in the growth prospects of BNP Paribas Fortis’ bancassurance business through the partnership with AG Insurance,” CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said, casting the deal as a pivot toward influence rather than direct operational ownership.

The pivot includes a renewed exclusive bancassurance agreement between BNP Paribas Fortis and AG Insurance, locking in future distribution and revenue streams. On top of that, AG Insurance and BNP Paribas Asset Management will form a new investment partnership, extending the collaboration deeper into the group’s asset-gathering machinery. Ageas also confirmed the bank will gain the right to nominate one director to its board.

A Strategic Reset Years in the Making

This transaction caps years of repositioning by BNP Paribas in Belgium. The bank has steadily strengthened its influence in Ageas, becoming the largest shareholder last year after acquiring a 9% stake from China’s Fosun Group — a divestment that reflected Beijing’s tightening capital controls and Fosun’s global retrenchment.

For Ageas, the journey back to full control of AG Insurance is equally significant as the company has spent more than a decade rebuilding its global footprint after the collapse of its predecessor, Fortis Group, during the 2008 financial crisis — an event that eventually led to the breakup of the Fortis banking and insurance businesses. Ageas emerged from that restructuring carrying strong Belgian roots but with a need to stretch beyond its home market.

Monday’s deals show Ageas refocusing and strengthening at home, even as it continues running major businesses in Asia and Europe.

Financial Impact and Long-Term Implications

BNP Paribas expects the transaction to deliver a net capital gain after tax of €820 million in 2026, along with €40 million in additional recurring net income annually. Though modest in the context of a banking giant that posts several billion euros in yearly profit, the move deepens the bank’s long-term insurance profitability and secures a strategic position in one of Europe’s most robust insurance markets.

Ageas’ new cash flow targets signal confidence that greater control of AG Insurance will drive stronger returns across the group. The Belgian firm has traditionally been conservative in its forward guidance, so the upward revisions underscore how central AG Insurance is to its earnings engine.

However, the deal still needs regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. If completed, it will formalize a new era in the long-running relationship between Belgium’s dominant bank and its dominant insurer — a partnership reshaped to give both sides more focus, more flexibility, and a firmer footing in a shifting European financial industry.

BNP Paribas will sit deeper inside Ageas’ shareholding structure, Ageas will fully command its core insurance subsidiary, and both will tighten their alliance in bancassurance and asset management — a structure that could influence Belgian financial services for years.