Firm to sell First Hawaiian stock

French investment bank BNP Paribas, which at one time owned 100 percent of First Hawaiian Bank, is reducing its stake in the company.

First Hawaiian Bank’s holding company said Monday its majority stockholder, an affiliate of BNP Paribas, will sell up to 28.75 million shares of First Hawaiian stock, which would reduce BNP’s stake to 62 percent. BNP currently owns 82.6 percent of First Hawaiian.

Because BNP’s affiliate is not issuing new shares, the stock offering will not dilute the value of existing shares.

Also Monday, the Sierra Club of Hawaii said in a news release that the Democratic Party of Hawaii has joined the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The protest is aimed at BNP Paribas, which is backing the oil pipeline’s construction. As part of the protest, the Sierra Club has withdrawn about $1.6 million from First Hawaiian since December.

Tim Vandeveer, chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, said the move is a response to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump to advance the pipeline, overturning the Obama administration’s interruption of the project’s construction for additional environmental review.

First Hawaiian said it does not control the action of its shareholders and has no involvement in the pipeline.