ABN Amro shares surge 17% after BNP Paribas bid interest report

LONDON (Reuters) - ABN Amro shares surged 17% after a Bloomberg report said French lender BNP Paribas expressed interest in buying the Dutch lender.

The French bank recently reached out for a meetingwith the Dutch government and discussed its interest in atransaction, Bloomberg Media reported citing anonymous sources.

Shares in France's biggest bank was up nearly 3% on the news. The broader European stock market was up 1.4%.

An ABN Amro spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. A BNP Paribas spokeswoman was also not immediately reachable for comment

(Reporting by Julien Ponthus and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Writing by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by)