Crédit Agricole sells stake in Banque Saudi Fransi for SAR 2 bln

Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank on Sunday has signed a deal to sell a 4.9 percent stake in Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) for SAR 31.50 per share, totaling SAR 1.86 billion (or EUR 440 million) to a Ripplewood-led consortium.

Crédit Agricole is offloading a 3 percent equity to RAM Holdings, the investment arm of US-based Ripplewood, the Paris-based bank said in a statement.

The remaining 1.9 percent stake is being sold to Riyadh-based Olayan Saudi Investment Co.

Ripplewood has the right to acquire an additional 6 percent equity stake in BSF for about SAR 2.17 billion (SAR 30 per share) by the end of December 2019, the statement added.

The sale deal reduces Crédit Agricole’s stake in BSF to 10 percent from 14.9 percent, according to data available on Argaam.

Other shareholders in BSF are Kingdom Holding Co. with 16.19 percent holding, the General Organization for Social Insurance (13.29 percent) and Rashed Abdulrahman Al Rashed (9.83 percent).