Blackstone has warned it will not be able to go ahead with its planned €1.36bn acquisition of Dutch bank NIBC Holding, unless the lender pays its dividend.

The US private equity group has put on ice its funding of up to €1.3bn in equity for the acquisition after the Amsterdam-based bank decided earlier this month to postpone dividend payments. The balance in finance was meant to originate from the dividend payment. NIBC said it would pay this in the second half of the year, in light of the pandemic’s impacts on the business.