Wednesday, February 13, 2008

2008.02.13 18:25:26 SocGen Finalizes Rosbank Majority Stake Acquisition

PARIS (Dow Jones)--Societe Generale (SCGLY) Wednesday announced the closing of the Rosbank (ROSB.RS) operation, in line with the announcement made on Dec. 20. Societe Generale now holds 50 % + 1 share, making it the majority shareholder of Rosbank, and will launch a mandatory offer to minority shareholders as per Russian law.
With 600 branches, Rosbank is the largest privately-owned retail banking network in Russia, with 3 million private customers and 60,000 small and medium enterprise customers. It also has a strong position in the commercial banking sector, with a portfolio of around 7,000 large companies. Its network covers the entire Russian territory, including 90% of towns with more than 500,000 inhabitants, and is particularly well implanted in fast growing regions like Siberia and the Russian Far East.

Since 2004, Rosbank has experienced annual growth of around 40% in outstanding loans. Societe Generale hopes to continue this rapid growth over the coming years, based on the development of retail banking activities and the expansion of its branch network, as well as its strong commercial banking franchise.

Company Web site: www.socgen.com

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