BMED.L Regulatory News (BMED)

18 Apr 2007 11:04

Banque Marocaine Du Commerce Exteri18 April 2007 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN BMCE BANK GROUP & CAJA DE AHORROS DEL MEDITERRANEO - CAM CAM acquires 5% of BMCE BANK Share Capital Wednesday April 11th, 2007, saw the signing, at the headquarters ofBMCE Bank in Casablanca, of a strategic partnership agreement between Mr. OthmanBenjelloun, CEO of BMCE Bank Group & Mr. Roberto Lopez ABAD, General Manager ofCaja De Ahorros Del Mediterraneo, CAM. Under the terms of this agreement, CAM acquires 5% of the capital ofBMCE Bank, and thus, joins the reference foreign shareholders of BMCE Bank. Thetotal value of the acquisition represents 132 Million Euros, that is 1.483billion MAD. The settlement of this transaction on the Casablanca Stock Exchangewill be executed as soon as the trading of BMCE shares is resumed. CAM, the 4th Spanish Saving Bank in terms of deposits, loans andconsolidated earnings, is located in United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland,Poland, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic and China. With a network of more than 1,000 branches, CAM operates in Banking,Insurance, Investment funds, Retail activities while capitalising on itsrecognized expertise in real estate and a strong experience in the developmentof strategic partnerships (GE Capital, Aegon ...). During 2006, the mainfinancial indicators reached 335 Million Euros for the net earnings, 54.6billion Euros for deposits and 51.8 billion Euros for loans. As a sociallyresponsible Bank, CAM allocates 1/4 of its net earnings to social activities. Beyond the capital stake, pending the approval of monetary andregulatory authorities, this agreement represents a real industrial partnership(i) in the real estate sector in Morocco (ii) in favour of Moroccan living inSpain (iii) in the merchant bank and International activities, (iv) in thetechnical cooperation and (v) in the social field. This partnership will provide BMCE Bank with a significant contributionin the value-creation within the domestic market as well as in the strengtheningof the Ibero-Moroccan commercial and investment exchanges and, ultimately, ofthe economic efficient presence of the Kingdom at the regional and internationallevels. Contact : General Secretariat of the Group Phone : 022 49 80 10/11 - Fax : 022 26 46 55 Web sites : http://www.bmcebank.co.ma/ http://www.cam.es/ Public Corporation with a capital of 1,587,513,900 MAD Headquarters : Casablanca - 140, Hassan II Avenue T.R. Casablanca no 27.129 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange