Paris-based bank Groupe Banque Populaire (GBP) has agreed to acquire a 60.93% stake in the property management company Foncia Groupe for around EUR 800 mln. Banque Popularie, France's fifth-largest bank, is acquiring the shares from the founder Jacky Lorenzetti and his family holding company SEIP, which will retain about a 7% stake. Lorenzetti will remain ceo of the group.
Paris-based bank Groupe Banque Populaire (GBP) has agreed to acquire a 60.93% stake in the property management company Foncia Groupe for around EUR 800 mln. Banque Popularie, France's fifth-largest bank, is acquiring the shares from the founder Jacky Lorenzetti and his family holding company SEIP, which will retain about a 7% stake. Lorenzetti will remain ceo of the group.
In a press release issued on Monday, Banque Populaire said it will pay a price of EUR 40 per share in the deal, which represents a premium of about 11% on Foncia's closing share price of EUR 36 on January 12.
Last year, Groupe Banque Populaire, a consortium of 20 Populaire banks led by Philippe Dupont, merged its investment banking and asset management arms with those of peer Groupe Caisse d'Epargne to create Natixis, a lender focused on retail banking activities across 68 countries with a market value of EUR 27 bn.
'Foncia's purchase represents a new stage of development for Groupe Banque Populaire,' said chairman and ceo Philippe Dupont. 'Following the successful creation of Natixis, Foncia will be a real growth engine' for Banque Populaires' retail bank, allowing it to 'enlarge its client portfolio', he added.
Foncia had a turnover of EUR 33 mln in 2005 and invested around EUR 360 mln in the same year, spread across France (92%), Switzerland, Germany and Belgium (8%). The company has been listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange since April 2001. Its current stock market value is about EUR 1.2 bn.
