La Banque Postale - September 2007

On 13 September, our client La Banque Postale announced that it has signed an agreement with Cr‚dit Municipal de Paris to enter into a partnership for the provision of restructuring loans services provided through the latter's subsidiary CMP-Banque. La Banque Postale will assist CMP-Banque in its development and will cement the partnership by acquiring a minority stake.

Cr‚dit Municipal de Paris is a two-century old municipal agency offering pawnbroking and related services (like public auctions), with a mission to serve households excluded from the banking system, as well as municipal employees. Its subsidiary, CMP-Banque, is incorporated as a licensed bank and provides restructuring loans to sub-prime individual borrowers, as well as standard banking services to specific communities like municipal employees and city-assisted charities.

La Banque Postale (LBP), formerly a division of the state-owned Post Office, was formally launched in January 2006 as an independent banking institution. LBP enjoys France's largest retail banking network, with more than 29m customers and 17,043 contact points across the country.

The partnership with Cr‚dit Municipal de Paris is part of the bank's strategy to broaden its range of services and extend its reach; it will allow LBP to better serve its own clients in the greater Paris area who are in need of a credit restructuring and aims at enhancing LBP's know-how in various specialized niches. It is consistent with LBP's mission to help provide banking services to individuals who do not pass acceptance criteria with traditional banks.

Canaccord Genuity acted as sole financial advisor to La Banque Postale, advising on the group's strategy, as well as coordinating and conducting negotiations regarding the partnership and reserved share rights issue.