Banque Nationale de Paris

The Banque Nationale de Paris is a worldwide bank with headquarters in Paris, France. It was formed in 1966 by the Government of France, but is now a private bank.

 History 
In 1966, the French government combined two of four state-owned banks, Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris (CNEP) and the Banque Nationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie (BNCI), into the new Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP). 

Though BNP was originally state-owned, the French government privatized the bank in 1993.

In early 1999, BNP Paribas agreed to a 15-billion (USD $17 billion) buyout offer from Société Générale. Not wanting to be left behind, however, rival Banque Nationale de Paris made a hostile USD $21-billion counter-offer for Paribas, and an unimaginable, separate USD 19.6-billion offer for Societe Generale (SocGen). BNP’s three-way merger proposal would have created the world's largest bank.

 Share stock 
Uncertainties surrounding BNP’s merger ambitions resulted in a drop of its share price, reducing the combined value of the offers for Paribas and SocGen to USD $38 billion. For months, all three banks engaged in a public relations battle in an attempt to win support from the public, shareholders, and the French banking regulator. 

In the end, BNP succeeded in breaking SocGen and Paribas' merger plan, and acquired Paribas to form BNP Paribas. However, it could only secure 31.5% of SocGen's shares. The French banking regulator eventually vetoed BNP's plan to acquire Societe Generale.

Category:Banks of France
Category:1848 establishments in Europe