Sources: Societe Generale has problems with the sale of the SGSS division

French banking group Societe Generale SA is having trouble reaching an agreement for the sale of custody division SGSS, with potential buyers unhappy with the price the French bank is asking, sources cited by Reuters say.

Societe Generale has been trying to sell its Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) division since last year, a deal that is part of CEO Slawomir Krupa's plan to sell some of its assets and streamline the bank.

According to the information published in the press, Societe Generale wants to obtain more than one billion euros for its custody division, notes Agerpres.

The sources cited by Reuters revealed that the American bank State Street, one of the largest providers of asset custody services after the leader BNY Mellon, had discussions regarding the takeover of SGSS but these discussions stalled.

Even if Societe Generale remains open to the idea of selling SGSS at a fair price, the French bank has decided that selling this division is no longer a priority given that SGSS brings a constant flow of liquidity, which the bank's other businesses need , stated the sources who wished to remain anonymous.

Other potential buyers are CACEIS, an asset services provider that French bank Credit Agricole jointly owns with Spanish bank Santander. Recently, CACEIS bought the European activities of RBC Investor Services.

SSGS offers asset managers and pension funds services such as asset custody. This division's revenue fell by 17.5% in 2023, after SGSS generated euro849 million in revenue in 2022. At the end of last year, SGSS had assets in custody worth 4,900 billion euros, which makes it the second largest custodian of assets in France, after BNP Paribas.

The Societe Generale group has 126,000 employees in 65 countries and 25 million customers worldwide. In Romania, BRD - Groupe Societe Generale operates a network of 391 units. The total assets of the bank amounted, at the end of March 2024, to 81.7 billion lei.