Societe Generale is set to sell its equipment financing unit to rival Groupe BPCE as the French lender looks to simplify its business under new chief executive Slawomir Krupa.
The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell Societe Generale Equipment Finance to Groupe BPCE, with the sale price agreed at €1.1bn, it said in a statement on 11 April.
The division offers financing and leasing agreements to the transport, industrial equipment technology, medical and renewable energy sectors and has a current outstanding loan book of €15bn. It amounts to €8bn of risk weighted assets at SocGen.
READ Societe Generale to axe 900 jobs in France
In September, chief executive Krupa laid out his strategic plan for the French lender. The former investment bank chief rolled back growth plans, instead setting an annual revenue target of between 0% and 2% through 2026.
SocGen is also looking to strip out costs by €1.7bn over the next two years and said it was cutting 900 jobs from its French head office in February, or around 5% of staff in the unit.
Krupa said in a statement that SocGen wanted to be a “rock-solid and sustainable top tier European bank” and that the sale of the equipment finance unit “illustrates the strategic roadmap’s execution that creates value for all our stakeholders”.
Odile de Saivre, who leads the division at SocGen, said the move opens a “new chapter firmly oriented towards growth, thanks to the strong alignment of our activities.”
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