French financial services company Societe Generale has agreed to divest its entire stake of 57.93% in its Guinean unit Société Générale Guinée to Atlantic Financial Group.
The financial terms of the transaction were not revealed.
Atlantic Financial Group is a pan-African banking group. The financial holding company of Atlantic Group has six banking subsidiaries, five insurance companies, one investment bank in the form of AFG Capital, and a technological unit called Digital Business Solutions.
The integrated digital bancassurance focuses on developing an ecosystem that fosters financial inclusion.
Under the terms of the agreement, Atlantic Financial Group will gain control of all activities operated by Société Générale Guinée. The pan-African banking group will also take over all client portfolios and employees within Société Générale Guinée.
Through the divestiture, Societe Generale expects to have a positive impact of approximately 2 basis points on the group’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio.
Reports surfaced that Societe Generale chief executive Slawomir Krupa had assured to boost profit and capital by cutting costs and selling off some non-core assets. These measures are aimed at enhancing the French financial services company’s overall performance.
Subject to the regular conditions precedent and the validation of the applicable financial and regulatory authorities, the deal is anticipated to be closed by the end of Q1 2025.
Last month, Societe Generale agreed to sell its private banking subsidiaries SG Kleinwort Hambros and Societe Generale Private Banking Suisse operating respectively in the UK and Switzerland to Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) in a deal worth approximately €900m. These divestments are also part of its strategic roadmap to attain a streamlined, more synergistic, and efficient business model along with bolstering the company’s capital base.
In the same month, Societe Generale reported an increase of 23.7% in its group net income for the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024) at €1.1bn compared to €900m in the same quarter of the previous year.
