“Holding”, former Minister Alami, officially acquires the “General Company of Morocco”

The “Siham” group, owned by former Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy, signed today, Friday, a contract worth 745 million euros to buy the shares of the “General Company of France” in its bank in Morocco, and the branches under it, including the “Moroccan Life” company, bringing back the former minister. To the insurance market years after selling his group branch, Siham Insurance, to the South African “Sanlam”.

Yesterday, Thursday, the Administrative Board of the General Company of France, under the chairmanship of Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, approved the signing of the contracts for the new deal with the “Siham” group, which allows the French group to sell its shares amounting to 57.67 percent of the capital of the “General Company of Morocco”, as well as its subsidiaries. Its shares, including the total shares of “Sogy Cap” in the insurance company affiliated with “Moroccan Life”.

A statement issued by the French group, a copy of which was obtained by Hespress, stated that, under the new deal, the “Siham” group would obtain all the activities managed by the “General Company of Morocco” group, as well as its customer portfolio, and all partners associated with the group, explaining that the draft deal was included in The framework for implementing the strategic road map for the “General Company of France”, which was presented last September, as it aimed to achieve a simplified, more harmonious and performance model, by strengthening the group’s capital.

It is expected that the new deal between “Saham” and the “General Company of France” will be completed by the end of this year, while the new announcement of the French group is expected to negatively affect its financial results in the first quarter of 2024, while the new agreement between the two parties sets a long-term path for the commercial partnership. It allows the French group’s clients to obtain a local banking partner in Morocco, while it allows the Moroccan holding clients to benefit from follow-up and financing solutions provided by the group’s experts.

The new investor (Siham) will have to submit an application to the Bank of Morocco in order to obtain a license to practice banking activity, as required by the regulations of Law No. 103.12 relating to credit institutions and bodies considered to be similar, which are clear regarding changes that occur in the nationality or control of a credit institution or the nature of The operations it carries out depend on granting a new credit, which is requested and delivered in accordance with the formalities and conditions stipulated in the law itself, noting that the Central Bank is the authority authorized to study and accept any licensing file for a new investor in the banking sector.

Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of the Bank of Morocco, restricted the success of the Siham Group’s acquisition of the “General Company of Morocco” to specific conditions, as he explained after the last quarterly meeting of the Administrative Board of the Central Bank that the sale of the “General Company of France” of its shares to the Moroccan group is subject to the acceptance of the file. The application for approval will be studied, and the investor will learn about the new project, its business model, and the additional value proposed by him.

The new deal between “Siham” and “Société Générale de France” is considered the second in 15 months in the banking market in Morocco, after a Moroccan group replaced a foreign investor in the capital of a national bank. In December 2022, “Holmarcom” signed a bond agreement with the French agricultural loan. Final, it confirmed the acquisition of a total stake of 78.7 percent in “Bank Al-Maghrib”.