The new entity will include the banks’ finance and investment banking areas, specialist banking services business and asset management operations, and have a market capitalisation of €20bn.
The project is the result of a reorganisation plan for Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, the third largest bank in France by Tier 1 capital. The bank acquired its current investment arm, Ixis, just two years ago from Caisse des Depots. As 35% shareholder of the central institution of the Caisse d’Epargne group (CNCE), Caisse des Depots could oppose the discussed merger.
The deal will also give Natexis (not to be confused with Natixis), Groupe Bank Populaire’s investment banking unit, the necessary size to compete at a higher level.
Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Epargne and Ixis are not publicly traded, but Natexis is listed in Paris and its shares reflected the positive reaction of the market to the discussions’ announcement in late March.
The new bank will be listed on the local stock exchange, with a 25% free float, and will be controlled by Groupe Banque Populaire and Groupe Caisse d’Epargne, each of which will own 34% of the capital.
The deal will also strengthen ties between the two groups through cross-equity holdings between CNCE and Banque Federale des Banques Populaires, the central institution for Banque Populaire.
The chief executive of each group will have a seat on the other party’s board, and take the role of vice-chairman.
Natixis is anticipated to become a top player in the French market, particularly in the employee savings, asset management, automated payment systems and bancassurance sectors.
If Natixis is successfully brought to life and becomes the national champion some expect it to be, the parents may want to become spouses at a later stage.
Kookmin in Korean first Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest bank, has agreed to buy a 64% stake in Korea Exchange Bank in a $6.6bn deal understood to be the country’s largest ever acquisition. Kookmin has agreed to buy a 50.5% stake from US private equity fund Lone Star and 13.6% from Germany’s Commerzbank. The price, a 20% premium over market and 1.76 times book value, was lower than recent bank purchase prices paid by Citigroup and Standard Chartered.
Portugal’s Millennium bcp has launched a €4.3bn bid for its smaller domestic rival Banco BPI. If successful, this would create a national banking champion, strengthening Portugal’s position in the European market. Last year, Millennium bcp failed to acquire Banca Comerciala Romana, Romania’s biggest bank.
Barclays is to invest $70m in its Indian unit over the next two years, following a recent $150m investment, with the view of employing 150 people and opening more branches in the country. The UK bank is also in talks to sell its 43.7% stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank for $1.08bn to CIBC, its partner in the joint venture that merged Barclay’s and CIBC’s Caribbean interests a few years ago. The Caribbean is no longer a strategic area for the UK bank.
Capital One’s bank buy
Capital One Financial Corporation is buying North Fork Bancorp for $14.6bn, which will transform the credit card company into one of the top 10 US banks. Capital One is expected to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter of this year. The deal follows the acquisition of New Orleans-based Hibernia Corporation, completed in November last year.
Chinese bank IPO
State-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has selected Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch to manage its initial public offering in Hong Kong. Goldman Sachs, reportedly considered a frontrunner for the IPO, was left out of the list of underwriters for the stock sale. Estimates of the deal’s fees for bankers are about $300m. The exclusion might have been caused by the recently announced strategic partnership between Goldman and ICBC to provide management expertise to the Chinese bank.
Bradesco acquisition
Banco Bradesco has announced the acquisition of American Express’s Brazilian operations for $490m, as the Brazilian lender plans to increase credit operations and expand its high-income customer base. The acquisition will boost Bradesco’s Brazilian market share to above 17% with 9.9 million credit cards.
Corrections
In the January edition, The Banker named National Bank of Slovakia governor Ivan Sramko its European Central Banker of the Year. Unfortunately, the photograph included with the article was not that of Mr Sramko but rather Joaquín Almunia, the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs. Also, in the second and third last paragraphs, the article referred to Slovenia instead of Slovakia. The Banker regrets the errors.
In March’s issue of The Banker, an article about Russian banks mistakenly referred to Promstroybank instead of Promsyvazbank. Promsyvazbank is headed by Alexander Levkovsky, who was wrongly connected with Promstroybank. We apologise for the error.
