Montrouge, 7 November 2013
Press release
Newedge / Amundi
Crédit Agricole SA has entered into exclusive negotiations with Société Générale
Crédit Agricole S.A. today announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Société Générale concerning the following transactions:
The disposal by Crédit Agricole CIB of its 50% stake in the Newedge Group to Société Générale, their brokerage joint venture, for €275m.
The concurrent acquisition by Crédit Agricole S.A. from Société Générale of a 5% stake in Amundi, their jointly owned asset management company, for an amount of €337.5m. Following this acquisition, Crédit Agricole would own 80% of Amundi and Société Générale, 20%. This sale would not have any impact on the current governance structure of the company. Amundi would remain the leading provider of savings solutions across Societe Generale's retail banking networks. Within the framework of the transaction, these distribution agreements would be extended through the end of 2019 from the initial expiration date scheduled for the end of 2014.
For Crédit Agricole S.A., the overall impact of the transaction will have a positive impact on the CET 1 ratio.
For Yves Perrier, Amundi's CEO, "Amundi was created in 2010 based on a business model that aims to provide high-performance savings solutions to the customers of several partner networks. In three years, Amundi has become number one in asset management in Europe with more than €750bn in assets under management. The extension of distribution agreements with Société Générale confirms the pertinence of this business model and bolsters the growth ambitions of Amundi, a core business for the Crédit Agricole Group."
For Jean-Yves Hocher, CEO of Crédit Agricole CIB, "the completion of this project would mark the final step of Crédit CIB's strategy launched in 2010 to refocus on its core financing, capital markets and advisory services businesses to support its key corporate and financial institution accounts."
The closing of the project is subject to a final agreement between the parties, the authorisation of the relevant regulatory bodies and the consultation with the workers councils in France.
About Newedge
Newedge is a 50/50 joint venture between Société Générale and Crédit Agricole CIB, focusing on global multi-asset brokerage business, with a world-leading position in the execution and clearing of listed derivative products. Newedge is present across 85 financial markets in North America, Europe and Asia. Newedge provides a wide range of trade and post trade services to institutional and corporate clients, in particular through execution and clearing services on listed options and futures contracts on fixed income, foreign exchange, equities and commodities and on OTC markets. For the first 9 months of 2013, Newedge generated a Net Banking Income of EUR 516m.
Press Contact :
CNC Communications
Louise Tingström +44 78 99 06 69 95 louise.tingstrom@cnc-communications.com
