Dutch media split over Fortis nationalization

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The government decision to nationalize the Dutch banking and insurance units of Fortis (FOR.BR) (FOR.AS) after the financial services group hit an acute cash crunch divided the country's media on Saturday.

In a surprise announcement on Friday, the Dutch government said it would pay 16.8 billion euros ($23.3 billion) for assets including Fortis's interest in ABN AMRO, the Dutch bank it bought in a consortium with Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS.L) and Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) last year.

The second state rescue of the Belgian-Dutch group in less than a week, which replaced last weekend's Benelux rescue package, effectively breaks up the cross-border group along national lines.

Calling it a baffling move, leading financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad wrote: "The banking crisis by itself is not a justification for Friday's intervention."

In an editorial, it said: "In one move, ABN AMRO and Fortis have become the most trustworthy banks in the market. This is an unfair competitive advantage during the current credit crisis."

Daily De Volkskrant took a more positive view, saying the Dutch intervention was unavoidable in view of the uncertainties swirling around ABN AMRO and as depositors withdrew their money.

"The government has rightly brought an end to this process," it wrote in an editorial. It said the 16.8 billion euro price tag appeared to be sizeable but that it included substantial assets. Newspaper AD also backed the deal, noting that the government took over the best parts of Fortis. De Telegraaf said the government has a lot of explaining to do in the coming days.

"Taxpayers may gain in the future if the state can sell the bank at a profit but Fortis shareholders face uncertainty as to how much their holdings are still worth," it said.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)