French banking group Societe Generale (SG) has paid an estimated 100 million Tunisian dinars ($72 million) to the Tunisian government for the purchase of a 52 percent stake in the capital of the local commercial bank Union Internationale de Banques, UIB), local media reported.
Constituting Tunisia’s first privatization in the banking sector, the government decided to cede 52 percent of its participation in UIB’s capital after giving up earlier efforts to merge the bank with two other state-controlled financial institutions.
Outbidding another French bank, Caisse d'Epargne, SG has acquired the majority stake in UIB and became a strategic partner. Prior to the sale, UIB’s network of local branches has been fully restructured. The bank currently controls a nine percent share of the local market. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
