Dutch govt to sell 7 percent of ABN Amro, cutting stake to 70 percent

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government will sell another 7 percent of its stake in ABN Amro, the Netherlands Financial Investments (NLFI) agency said on Wednesday, cutting the state's stake in the bank to 70 percent.

In a statement, the NLFI said it is selling the shares via an accelerated bookbuilding process that will end on Nov. 21.

ABN Amro was nationalised in 2009 and returned to the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in November 2015, when the state sold a 23 percent stake. It plans to gradually sell its entire stake.

Earlier Wednesday the bank reported a 19 percent rise in underlying profit for the third quarter of 2016.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Adrian Croft)