BNP Paribas has canceled a shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed takeover of Fortis, according to The New York Times.
The meeting was canceled because the company does not believe it would be possible to complete the deal on the timetable it had originally planned.
The announcement follows a ruling by Brussels Court of Appeals, which said that Fortis shareholders must be allowed to vote on the deal. The Belgian government has vowed to fight a court decision, according to NYT.
On Wednesday, the Belgian government said planned to proceed with the sale of 49.9 percent of Fortis to BNP Paribas.
The ruling applied only to the remaining 50.1 percent, which was to have been split between BNP and the Belgian government.
BNP did not say on Thursday whether it will resume planning or discard the plans altogether.