Nov 12 (Reuters) - Dutch bank ABN Amro on

Wednesday said that it had acquired domestic commercial lender

NIBC Bank from private equity firm Blackstone, strengthening its

position in its home market.

The acquisition, for an estimated price of 960 million euros

($1.1 billion), is set to close in the second half of next year.

It is expected to improve ABN Amro's profitability and generate

a return on invested capital of roughly 18%, the bank said.

ABN Amro also beat market expectations for third-quarter

profit. Net profit fell by 11% from a year ago to 617 million

euros ($720 million), ahead of analysts' median forecast of 589

million.

"In relation to the acquisition of NIBC, we have

reassessed our mortgage brand strategy (and) decided to focus on

our core mortgage labels, ABN AMRO and Florius, and to

discontinue the Moneyou brand" CEO Marguerite Bérard said in a

statement, as the lender aims to improve efficiency.

ABN Amro's costs were higher than anticipated in the

quarter, in part due to the integration of staff from German

bank Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe which it acquired at the beginning of

the year.

The bank is now targeting 5.4-5.5 billion euros of

expenses in 2025, compared with market forecast of 5.56 billion.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)