SOCIETE GENERALE CONFIRMS THE LAUNCH OF A GLOBAL EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP PROGRAMME
Press release
Paris, 22 May 2024
Societe Generale confirms the launch of a new global employee share ownership programme allowing eligible current employees and retired former employees of the Group to subscribe for a capital increase reserved for them on preferential terms. The subscription period for the share offer will take place from 3 to 17 June (inclusive).
The settlement-delivery of the shares should take place on 25 July 2024.
The terms of this transaction are described in the information document provided below.
This transaction implements the 19th resolution of the General Meeting held on 23 May 2023. The principle of this operation, approved by the Board of Directors on 7 February 2024, was made public in page 14 of the Board of Directors' report published the 12 April 2024 on the resolutions submitted to the General Meeting of 22 May 2024 and, before that, in the table of financial authorisations provided in section 3.1.7 of the Universal Registration Document dated 11 March 2024 which has been updated, on page 31 of its first amendment dated 3 May 2024.
Employee share ownership is a long-term collective commitment mechanism regularly implemented within Societe Generale to involve employees in the development of the company and to enable them to benefit from long-term value creation.
The 2024 programme is the 31st offered by the Group.
Press contacts:
Jean-Baptiste Froville_+33 1 58 98 68 00_ jean-baptiste.froville@socgen.com
Fanny Rouby_+33 1 57 29 11 12_ fanny.rouby@socgen.com
22 May 2024
INFORMATION DOCUMENT
PROVIDED FOR CURRENT EMPLOYEES AND RETIRED FORMER EMPLOYEES
OF THE SOCIETE GENERALE GROUP
PERTAINING TO A CAPITAL INCREASE IN CASH TARGETING A MAXIMUM OF 12,123,200 SHARES RESERVED FOR ELIGIBLE CURRENT EMPLOYEES AND RETIRED FORMER EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN SOCIETE GENERALE GROUP COMPANY
OR GROUP SAVINGS PLANS
2024 GROUP EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP PROGRAMME
| This information document is available at Societe Generale’s administrative office (17 cours Valmy - 92972 Paris-La Défense Cedex), on its website and its intranet site, and was covered by a press release dated 22 May 2024. This document is prepared in accordance with the prospectus publication exemptions provided for in Article 1.4°(i) and Article 1.5°(h) of Prospectus Regulation (EU) No. 2017/1129. It constitutes the document required to meet the conditions for exemption from publication of a prospectus as defined by said Prospectus Regulation, directly applicable in the domestic law of each Member State of the European Union. |
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CAPITAL INCREASE IN CASH RESERVED FOR ELIGIBLE CURRENT EMPLOYEES AND RETIRED FORMER EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN SOCIETE GENERALE GROUP COMPANY OR GROUP SAVINGS PLANS
| ISSUER | Societe Generale, French public limited company (société anonyme), Share capital: EUR 1,003,724,927.50 Registered office: 29, boulevard Haussmann - 75009 PARIS Paris Trade and Companies Register No. 552 120 222 Euronext Paris - Compartment A Ordinary share ISIN code: FR0000130809 Share admitted to Deferred Settlement Service |
| Securities offered | The maximum overall nominal amount of the capital increase is set at EUR 15,154,000, corresponding to the issue of 12,123,200 shares available for subscription in cash. The capital increase is sub-divided into two (2) tranches using separate investment vehicles, respectively accessible to separate entities or groups of entities. The Societe Generale shares to be issued will be of the same class and will be equivalent to Societe Generale shares already admitted to trading on Euronext Paris (Compartment A). |
| Reasons for the offer | The 2024 Group Employee Share Ownership Programme falls within the scope of the Societe Generale Group employee share ownership policy, both in France and internationally, allowing beneficiaries to become involved in the Group’s operations by participating, through this investment, in the development of Societe Generale, by expressing their voting rights and participating in the General Meeting. |
| Terms of subscription | The shares will be available for subscription through employee mutual fund (“FCPE”) in France and directly via the acquisition of registered shares outside France. Method for determining the subscription price The subscription price of EUR 20.64 is equal to the arithmetic average of the 20 (twenty) volume-weighted average prices recorded each day on the Euronext Paris regulated stock market at the end of each of the 20 (twenty) trading sessions preceding the morning of 21 May 2024 (date of the decision of the Chief Executive Officer, setting the subscription period and the subscription price and acting on the sub-delegation of the Board of Directors at its meeting of 7 February 2024 using the authorization granted to the Board by the nineteen resolution of the Combined General Meeting of 23 May 2023), with the application of a 20% haircut. Duration of subscription period The subscription period will begin on Monday 3rd June 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (Paris time) and will end on Monday 17th June 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Paris time). |
| Terms of subscription for shares The first (1st) tranche is subscribed through the Employee Mutual Funds under Company or Group Savings Plans. The second (2nd) tranche is directly subscribed by employees under the International Group Savings Plan. Beneficiaries of the offer This offer is reserved for employees with seniority of at least three (3) months, holding an employment contract in effect at the end of the subscription period, broken down as follows:
| |
| As regards the first tranche, former employees having left their company after retiring, with this category including pre-retirees, and having retained assets in the Company or Group Savings Plans, may also take part in this reserved capital increase. | |
| Subscription limit In accordance with Article L. 3332-10 of the French Labour Code, the total amount of payments made by Beneficiaries (including payments into other Savings Plans) may not exceed 25% of their gross annual remuneration received during the year of subscription or, for Beneficiaries whose employment contract is suspended and who received no remuneration for the year of subscription, 25% of the annual limit provided for in Article L. 241-3 of the French Social Security Code. At its meeting of 7 February 2024, the Board of Directors decided that the total amount of a given Beneficiary’s individual subscription (which may consist of a voluntary payment, including the transfer of available assets, as well as the net amounts of profit-sharing, incentive bonuses and employer matching contribution (not applicable to retirees)) may not exceed EUR 20,000. Employer matching contribution Employer matching contribution rules are specific to each Company or Group Savings Plan and each participating entity. | |
| Transaction timetable | Subscription will be open from Monday 3rd June 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (Paris time) to Monday 17th June 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Paris time). The capital increase is scheduled for 25 July 2024. |
| Listing of new shares | Listing market Societe Generale shares are listed on Euronext Paris (deferred settlement service, continuous trading group A, ISIN code FR0000130809). |
| Listing of new shares The listing of the new shares on Euronext Paris will be requested immediately after the completion of the capital increase (the listing should be effective on or around 29 July 2024). | |
| General information on new shares subject to a request for admission to trading | Rights attached to shares issued As soon as they are created, the new shares will be subject to all the provisions of the Issuer’s Articles of Association and will bear dividends rights as of 1 January 2024. As a result, they will be fully assimilated with the existing shares and will entitle the shareholders of a public limited company to the associated legal prerogatives. In particular, they will entitle shareholders to ownership of the company’s assets and the liquidation surplus, in a proportion equal to the percentage of share capital they represent. Similarly, the dividend is distributed to shareholders in proportion to their shareholding. A double voting right, in proportion to the capital represented, is allocated to all fully paid-up shares registered in the name of the same shareholder, for at least two years, as well as to new registered shares granted free of charge to a shareholder, in the event of a capital increase through the incorporation of reserves, profits or issue premiums, in respect of shares entitled thereto. In accordance with Article L. 214-165 II, paragraph 3, of the French Monetary and Financial Code, the voting rights attached to Societe Generale shares subscribed via the FCPE will be exclusively exercised individually by the unitholders of said FCPE and, for fractional units, by the supervisory board of said FCPE. In the event of a public purchase or exchange offer, the supervisory board of the FCPE decide, based on the relative majority of the votes cast, whether or not to tender Societe Generale shares to the offer. If there is no relative majority, the decision is put to the vote of the unitholders, who decide based on the relative majority of the votes cast. Marketability of shares No clauses in the Articles of Association limit the free marketability of the shares comprising Societe Generale's capital. Only the rules below governing the unavailability of shares under a Company or Group Savings Plan will limit the marketability of said shares. |
| Unavailability | Shares held directly by the Beneficiaries and units of the employee mutual fund, as applicable, will be unavailable for a period of 5 years, barring cases of early release subject to the conditions applicable to the Company or Group Savings Plan in question. As regards the 2nd tranche, in some countries, depending on local legislation, some cases of early release will not be open to employees. |
| Specific disclaimer for international subscriptions | This document constitutes neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to subscribe for Societe Generale shares. The Societe Generale share offer reserved for eligible current employees and retired former employees participating in Societe Generale Group Company or Group Savings Plans will only be implemented in countries where such an offer has been registered with the relevant local authorities and/or with the approval of a prospectus by the competent local authorities, or in consideration of an exemption from the obligation to establish a prospectus or register the offer. More generally, the offer will only be made in countries where all required registration procedures and/or notifications have been made and the proper authorisations obtained, except for the exemptions mentioned above. This document is not intended for countries in which such a prospectus would not have been approved or such an exemption would not be available, or in which all required registration and/or notification procedures have not yet been made or the proper authorisations obtained, and copies of this document should not be sent in such countries. With respect to the United States of America in particular, the shares referred to in this document have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration or exemption from registration in accordance with the Securities Act. Societe Generale does not intend to register the offer, in part or in whole, in the United States, or to make public share offers in the United States. The shares will be offered only for transactions benefiting from an exemption from registration. Due to the sanctions imposed by the European Union, this offer is not open to citizens or residents of Russia who do not have a residence permit in or are not nationals of a European Union country, of a country member of the European Economic Area or of Switzerland, or to citizens or residents or Belarus who do not have a residence permit in or are not nationals of a European Union country. |
Employee contact
Beneficiaries may address any questions relating to this offer to the contact indicated in the subscription application provided to them.
Societe Generale
Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with more than 126,000 employees serving about 25 million clients in 65 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective - to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.
The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:
- French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
- Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
- International Retail, Mobility & Leasing Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.
Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).
For more information, you can follow us on Twitter/X @societegenerale or visit our website societegenerale.com.
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