UTRECHT, 06/05/06 - The bourse flotation of SNS Reaal is intended to raise a maximum of nearly 1.3 billion euros for the banking and insurance group. The launch on Euronext Amsterdam will be on 18 May, SNS Reaal announced Friday.

After the flotation, announced by the company in March, about 30 percent of the shares will be traded on the bourse. But if there is sufficient interest, SNS Reaal can issue more new shares, allowing a total of nearly 35 percent to be traded. SNS Reaal will try to interest investors in its shares through to 17 May.

The shares will be listed at a price of between 16 and 18.50 euros. Nearly 70 million shares will be floated, including nearly 25 million new shares and over 45 million existing shares. These are being sold by the SNS Reaal Management Foundation, currently still the company's sole shareholder.

SNS Reaal will use its bourse flotation for growth. It is eyeing a number of large takeovers, with insurance companies its first preference. The company also believes the bourse listing will make its name better known.

Takeovers in the banking area are also not ruled out, said CEO Sjoerd van Keulen. "Large banks do sometimes divest smaller units. We are ready if a chance comes up." SNS Reaal claims a 6 percent share of the Dutch savings market.

SNS Reaal has about 170 branches and is mainly present in the north, east and south of the Netherlands, but wants to increase its visibility in the west. In two years' time, it aims to have 25 branches there, compared with 16 at present.

The company had a balance sheet total of over 68 billion euros at end-2005. This means it is still a small player compared with ING (balance sheet total: over 1.1 trillion euros) and ABN Amro (nearly 900 billion). SNS Reaal's net profit in 2005 was 323 million euros, and it provides around 5,300 full-time jobs.