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KBC to sell its Russian subsidiary Absolut Bank
Russian Federation | December 2012


The Belgian banking and insurance group KBC has agreed to sell its Russian banking subsidiary Absolut Bank to a group of Russian investors for 300 million euros. The deal is due to be closed in the second quarter of 2013 once it has been approved by the regulatory authorities. This sale, which is expected to have a positive impact of around 100 million euros on KBC’s consolidated results in 2013 but not on the capital, should improve KBC’s tier-1 capital ratio by around 0.4 percentage points. KBC had decided to refocus on retail banking in Belgium and Central and Eastern Europe.




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Groupama to sell its Spanish subsidiary

Poland - June 2012



The French mutual insurance group Groupama has sold its Spanish subsidiary Groupama Seguros to the Spanish insurer Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO), which will acquire 49% of its capital, and INOCSA, GCO’s majority shareholder, which will acquire the remaining 51%. Groupama Seguros generated revenues of 943 million euros in 2011. Thanks to these good results Groupama Seguros is valued at 404.5 million euros



News summary compiled by Efma Information Services
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Maybank to open first branch in Laos

Lao People's Democratic Republ - November 2012



The Malaysian bank Maybank plans to open its first branch in Laos in November 2012. According to Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, Maybank’s CEO, this branch will be located in Vientiane, the country’s capital. This is a further step in Maybank’s expansion in Asia. It is currently present in 19 countries, including China, and has 88 branches, 46 000 employees and 22 million customers on the continent. Maybank is the fourth largest bank in Asia with assets in excess of 158 billion dollars.



News summary compiled by Efma Information Services
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Co-op has withdrawn from its planned purchase of 630 Lloyds branches

United Kingdom - April 2013



As a condition of its approval for the State aid granted to bail out Lloyds during the 2008 financial crisis, the European Union had required 630 Lloyds branches to be sold by mid-2013. In 2012, Lloyds had found a purchaser: the Co-op Bank which had undertaken to buy these branches. However, the proposed deal has collapsed at the last minute, and the Co-op has just announced that it is pulling out of the deal because of regulatory constraints and the poor economic outlook. Lloyds will therefore have to find another solution and, accordingly, will have to request an extension of the EU deadline. One solution under consideration by the UK bank is the possibility of reviving the TSB brand and transferring the 630 branches to TSB, which would then be floated on the stock market.



News summary compiled by Efma Information Services

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