Belgium, the largest shareholder in BNP Paribas, announced on Tuesday that it had launched the sale of a third of the capital it holds in the French bank, an operation for which the amount was not specified but which, according to estimates, could bring in two billion euros for the Belgian state.

The sale, carried out through the accelerated creation of an order book with qualified investors, will reduce the Belgian state's stake from 7.8% to around 5.1% of the capital, the Belgian state shareholding agency (SFPI) said in a press release.

Belgium acquired a stake in BNP Paribas in 2008 following the rescue plan for the Belgian financial group Fortis, which was taken over by the French bank as part of this plan.

At present, the Belgian State is BNP Paribas' largest shareholder, ahead of the Amundi and BlackRock funds, which hold 7% and 6% of the bank's capital respectively, according to Refinitiv data.

There was no immediate comment from BNP Paribas.

BNP Paribas Fortis, BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs International are acting as joint bookrunners for the offer, while Lazard and Allen & Overy LLP are acting as financial advisor and legal advisor respectively to SFPI, according to the press release.

Bookrunners told investors during the day that the share price was likely to be set at 64.96 euros, a 1.8% discount to BNP Paribas' closing price, according to messages seen by Reuters.

Based on the bank's market value, the deal could therefore be worth more than 2 billion euros.

(Reporting Charlotte Van Campenhout, Tassilo Hummel, Mathieu Rosemain, Pablo Cerqueiro Mayo; French version Bertrand Boucey and Jean Terzian)