Bank Al-Maghrib has granted the final approval needed for Saham Group to acquire Société Générale Maroc.
“Bank Al-Maghrib has given Saham the last required authorization to finalize its acquisition of Société Générale’s Moroccan subsidiary,” reports Médias24. The source confirms that “Saham now has all the necessary approvals to complete the purchase of 57.67% of the shares in Société Générale Marocaine de Banques (SGMB). The next step is the closing of the deal, which is scheduled to be signed in early December in Casablanca.”
Jeune Afrique magazine has also verified the news regarding the approvals for Société Générale Maroc and its subsidiaries (Eqdom, Sogelease, SG Offshore). “It is now official: the Moroccan subsidiary of the Société Générale giant has been acquired by Saham Group. Seven months after signing this ‘deal of the year’ for 745 million euros with the French banking group, Moulay Hafid Elalamy has finally received the green light from the central bank, led by Abdellatif Jouahri,” the magazine states.
According to a statement from the Moroccan holding company, Saham will take over all operations conducted by Société Générale Maroc, including those of the insurance company La Marocaine Vie. Additionally, all employees will be retained by Saham. Société Générale has already divested its subsidiaries in Congo and Chad, and is preparing to exit Equatorial Guinea and Burkina Faso as well.
Through these divestitures, Société Générale aims to “create a simplified, more synergistic, and efficient model,” following the footsteps of other French banks like Barclays and BNP Paribas, which have also sold off several of their African subsidiaries in recent years. Société Générale had these divestments outlined in its strategic roadmap. Last year, the French bank’s net profit reached 2.5 billion euros.
