Morocco: Societe Generale pulls out of local insurance and banking units
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | May 2024
Paris-headquartered Societe Generale (SG), the French financial services giant, has announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its Moroccan subsidiary to financial group Saham, for EUR745m ($793m).
In Morocco, the sale concerns the disposal of all of the shares held by Sogecap (SG’s life and insurance company) in the insurance company La Marocaine Vie and of a 57.67% stake in the banking unit, Societe Generale Marocaine.
The deal follows SG’s sale in December 2023 of its subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Mozambique. A few months earlier, SG had initiated its withdrawal from Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and Mauritania, while carrying out a strategic review of its business in Tunisia. SG’s withdrawal from Africa is part of its strategic roadmap unveiled in September 2023 that aims to streamline the group’s operations.
The deal is pending approval from Bank Al-Maghrib, the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, the Competition Council and the Insurance and Social Security Supervisory Authority.
Saham will absorb all activities, client portfolios and employees of the acquired entities to propel itself to a position of greater strength within the Moroccan market.
The acquisition will be financed by the Saham Group’s equity, resulting from profits from investments made internationally. M