Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The Belgian government said Fortis shareholders will benefit from gains arising from its holding in BNP Paribas SA, which yesterday took control of the financial- services company's businesses in the country.

Fortis investors have the right to ``part of the added-value and profits that exceed the state's total investment plus a reasonable risk premium,'' the government said in a statement today.

Fortis, formerly Belgium's largest financial-services firm, was broken up after an earlier rescue failed to restore stability. BNP Paribas yesterday agreed to buy 75 percent of Fortis Bank Belgium from the government for 8.25 billion euros ($11.2 billion) in stock, leaving the Belgian state with an 11.6 percent stake in France's biggest bank.

Fortis got an 11.2 billion-euro capital injection from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg last week. Fortis became a casualty of the global financial turmoil after pouring 24.2 billion euros into the acquisition of ABN Amro Holding NV assets last year just as the U.S. subprime-mortgage market collapsed and credit markets froze.

BNP Paribas has been able to make acquisitions after suffering smaller subprime losses than rivals such as Deutsche Bank AG and UBS AG. Paris-based BNP Paribas also agreed to buy Fortis's Belgian insurance operations for 5.5 billion euros in cash and took control of the company's Luxembourg units.

Level Field

The Netherlands, which purchased the Dutch businesses of Fortis and ABN Amro for 16.8 billion euros, said late yesterday it will ask the units to ``commit explicitly to not inappropriately profit from their temporary state ownership.'' The government will ensure the Dutch financial industry ``continues to have a level playing field,'' it added.

Rabobank Groep NV wants a limit on the Dutch market share of Fortis and ABN Amro while the banks are owned by the state, Het Financieele Dagblad said today, citing Chief Executive Officer Bert Heemskerk. Parties supported by the state must not strengthen their position at the expense of banks that don't receive or need that support, Heemskerk was quoted as saying.

The Dutch central bank provided a bridge loan to Fortis Bank Netherlands of as much as 34 billion euros to redeem short-term debt to the Belgian unit that will be majority owned by BNP Paribas. The final goal is that Fortis's Dutch unit will fully arrange this loan itself on the financial markets,'' the Netherlands ministry of finance said yesterday.

Resuming Trading

Belgian financial regulator CBFA expects Fortis to resume trading in Amsterdam and Brussels this afternoon after the company publishes a statement. The shares haven't traded since Oct. 3.

``Fortis will issue a release today in which they will set out the value determination'' of the shares, Hein Lannoy, a spokesman for the CBFA said. Marianne Honkoop, a spokeswoman for Fortis, confirmed the company will issue a statement today.

The remaining Fortis holding company, based in Amsterdam and Brussels, will have a 66 percent stake in a 10.4 billion-euro portfolio of structured products and will hold on to the international insurance operations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meera Louis in Brussels at mlouis1@bloomberg.net; Martijn van der Starre in Amsterdam at vanderstarre@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 7, 2008 05:54 EDT