Foreign investor ready to acquire Dexia’s Luxembourg branch

A foreign investor is ready to acquire the Luxembourg branch of troubled Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden said Thursday.

“Negotiations are at an advanced stage and should conclude by the end of the month,” the minister said at a news conference.

He said “an international investor is ready to acquire Dexia BIL in order to pursue its strategic development overseas”.

Luxembourg would remain a minority shareholder in the bank, which has a staff of 5,500.

France and Belgium were forced this week to leap to the rescue of cross-border bank Dexia, the first European bank to be dragged down by the eurozone debt crisis — and which also had to be rescued in 2008.

Concerns that some banks in the European Union might face difficulties if the eurozone debt crisis worsens, as they hold large amounts of debt bonds issued by countries under pressure, drove down markets this week.

But pledges from the EU executive and European governments of concerted action to shore up the banking sector have reassured the markets.