In accordance with the rules on financial transparency, BNP Paribas sent a notification on 8 February 2012 advising that, on 2 February 2012, its interest has exceeded the statutory threshold of 3% of the shares issued by Ageas and reached 4.79%.

Further to amongst others the agreement reached on 26 January 2012 between Ageas on the one hand, and BNP Paribas and Fortis Bank on the other, BNP Paribas now directly and indirectly owns about 125.8 million shares or 4.79% of the 2.6 billion outstanding shares of Ageas. Today, BNP Paribas directly owns 78.9 million of the 125.3 million shares previously held by Fortis Bank. The dividend and voting rights of the 46.5 million, or 1.77%, shares in the hands of Fortis Bank remain suspended. The details and impact of this agreement have been published in two press releases, on 31 January and 7 February 2012.

The notifications received by Ageas are available on the Ageas website under "Investor relations - The share - Transparency requirements" (http://www.ageas.com/en/Pages/transparency_requirements.aspx). 

Ageas is an international insurance company with a heritage spanning more than 180 years. Ranked among the top 20 insurance companies in Europe, Ageas has chosen to concentrate its business activities in Europe and Asia, which together make up the largest share of the global insurance market. These are grouped around four segments: Belgium, United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia and served through a combination of wholly owned subsidiaries and partnerships with strong financial institutions and key distributors around the world. Ageas operates successful partnerships in Belgium, UK, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, China, Malaysia, India and Thailand and has subsidiaries in France, Germany, Hong Kong and UK. It is the market leader in Belgium for individual life and employee benefits, as well as a leading non-life player, through AG Insurance, and in the UK, it has a strong presence as the third largest player in private car insurance and the over 50's market. It employs more than 13,000 people and has annual inflows of almost EUR 18 billion.

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