Société Générale plans to sell its equipment financing division to peer group BPCE as it seeks to streamline its business under new chief executive Sławomir Krupa.
The bank announced in a statement on April 11 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to sell Société Générale Equipment Finance to Groupe BPCE, with an agreed sale price of 1.1 billion euros.
The division provides loans and leases in the transport, industrial technology, healthcare and renewable energy sectors and currently has a loan balance of €15 billion. This equates to €8 billion in risk-weighted assets for his SocGen.
read Societe Generale to cut 900 jobs in France
In September, CEO Krupa announced a strategic plan for the French lender. The former investment banker has rolled back growth plans and instead set an annual profit target of 0% to 2% through 2026.
SocGen is also aiming to cut costs by €1.7 billion over the next two years, announcing in February that it would cut 900 jobs from its French headquarters, about 5% of its divisional staff.
Krupa said in a statement that SocGen aims to be a “robust and sustainable top-tier European bank” and that the sale of the equipment finance division “demonstrates the execution of our strategic roadmap to create value for all stakeholders.” He said that.
Odile de Sèvres, head of SocGen, said the move “opens a new chapter in which we firmly aim for growth, thanks to the strong collaboration of our activities.”
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