BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) - Belgian-based financial services group Fortis will likely postpone a shareholder vote in Brussels on the sale of its banking assets to BNP Paribas, a spokeswoman for the group said.
"It is likely that the shareholder meeting will be postponed. The board will make a decision this afternoon," Fortis spokeswoman Kathleen Steel said on Wednesday.
Fortis shareholders, who blocked BNP's purchase last month, are set to vote on revised conditions at meetings on April 8 in the Dutch city of Utrecht and April 9 in Brussels, but a court ruling delivered on Tuesday dealt a fresh blow to the heavily contested deal.
The Brussels Court of Appeal decided that only shareholders who held stock at the time of the break-up in October would be allowed to vote on the sale of Fortis banking assets to BNP.
The court decision could swing the vote in favour of the "no" camp.
French bank BNP Paribas is poised to buy 75 percent of Fortis Bank in Belgium, which was once the banking arm of listed Fortis Holding but is now in state hands.
Under the deal Fortis Bank would acquire a 25 percent stake in Fortis Insurance Belgium from Fortis Holding for 1.375 billion euros ($1.8 billion), with the financing guaranteed by BNP.
The shareholders blocked the previous terms of this deal last month. (Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.7504 euro)