Both French banks Crdit Agricole and BNP Paribas have expressed interest in taking over Socit Gnrale, which suffered the loss of 4.9 billion after unauthorized trades from a rogue trader.
Shares of Socit Gnrale rose today after a report that the third-largest French bank, Crdit Agricole, had hired advisers to study a possible approach to taking over its rival Soc Gen, Reuters reports.
Yesterday BNP Paribas confirmed its interest in making an offer for its rival Soc Gen. France’s biggest bank, however, was not successful in its 1999 attempt to takeover Soc Gen.
BNP has hired Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers for its potential approach, Reuters reports.
The French government has said they would like to keep Soc Gen from foreign investors. But rumors point to several foreign banks as possibilities to take a stab at taking over Soc Gen.
Soc Gen has hired JPMorgan for advice, Bloomberg reports. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are underwriting a planned 5.5 billion euro-stock offering for Soc Gen.
Soc Gen has made its point clear that it would like to stay independent. While some reports suggested that Daniel Bouton, chairman and chief executive, expressed openness in takeovers, Soc Gen denied it.
The Soc Gen board Wednesday denied a second offer from Bouton to resign, reaffirming its confident in Soc Gen’s leader.
Bouton will be questioned by the judge in the investigation into the unauthorized trades, Reuters reports.