Headquarters installed in Parma not more

We approach the purpose... It is this morning that Credit Agricole, shareholder to about 18 of Banca Intesa, will bring together its Board of Directors to approve the outcome of the negotiations with the Italian Bank and probably give the green light to his marriage with Sanpaolo IMI. Two Italian banks meet their directors tomorrow.

A new meeting was held early in the week between Georges Pauget, the General Director of Credit Agricole SA (Casa), and Corrado Passera, his counterpart in the Italian Banca Intesa, to finalize the agreement.

Discussion on asset management has been the most difficult to complete file. Because between tenants, agricultural credit, output by the high to three credit agricultural-Banca Intesa merger, that control Nextra would come if add subsidiary Eurizon's Sanpoaolo IMI and those who are resolved to go out at least in part of Nextra, tensions were bright. But a unit of asset management with two producers Credit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) and Eurizon and also two networks of distribution Banca Intesa-Sanpaolo IMI and the new network of Credit Agricole SA in the peninsula seemed rather difficult to achieve in music...

By retrieving starting implementation (i.e. more than 10 billion euros in outstanding), Credit Agricole Asset Management in Italy will be in all ways not completely stripped. All that will be added to these assets of Cariparma (about 10 billion euros of managed stocks) and those of other agencies that will be aggregated.

Cariparma bridgehead

The branch bank of detail is, for its part, wrapped. In the end, the French Bank will be at the head of a network of almost 630 agencies in Italy. With the head of bridge, Cariparma, which is very good student in transalpine banking class (see table). Indeed, its exploitation coefficient was 44.3 at the end of the year 2005... and his performance of the 17.5 own funds. Very present in Emilia Romagna and Lombardy, this savings claims almost 630.000 customers with an amount of credit of 11.7 billion euros and nearby deposits of EUR 12 billion. The management does not move. Headquarters installed in Parma not more.

The establishment will be controlled to about 85 by Credit Agricole SA, retaining, Cariparma Foundation, 15 of the capital and the right to appoint up to 30 of the directors.

This network, with approximately 310 agencies, will add some 150 points of sale of the popular ex-Banque of Friuli, whose French should retrieve 76 of the capital, as well as about 170 Banca Intesa agencies spread across the territory. Has the reason of an average price of EUR 10 million per point of sale, Credit Agricole should therefore acquire a beautiful network of average size for more than 6 billion euros in a market as carrier.

Reduction of participation

To finance this operation, it seems to be towards a reduction in the level of participation of the Crédit Agricole in the new set formed by Banca Intesa and Sanpoalo IMI below 9 to which the merging will mechanically bring them. According to the Reuters news agency, citing sources close to the record, this participation should be around 5, "or even slightly less. Goldman Sachs analysts had recently estimated at 2.7 billion euros surplus capital that the French Bank to withdraw from a total withdrawal of the Italian Banca Intesa.