The General Pension Fund for State Employees of Côte d'Ivoire becomes the majority shareholder of Oragroup Bank. It succeeds the pan-African investment fund Emerging Capital Partners, which acquired a stake in the group in 2008.

The pan-African investment fund Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) announced, on Thursday 21 November, the signing of an agreement for the partial sale of its shares in the Togolese bank Oragroup to the Institut de Prévoyance Sociale – Caisse Générale de Retraite des Agents de l'Etat (IPS-CGRAE) of Côte d'Ivoire.

As revealed by Jeune Afrique Business Plus, after approval by the regulatory authorities, IPS-CGRAE will become the majority shareholder of the pan-African banking group, with 61.45% of its capital (which amounts to 273.5 billion FCA francs, or about 417 million euros).

The agreement also includes the partial sale of the interests of several institutional shareholders of Oragroup (Proparco, DEG, BIO and BOAD). Considering the growth prospects and the development plan of the banking group, ECP will remain a shareholder of Oragroup with approximately 20% of its capital. It is also a way to support the IPS-CGRAE in the long term, because the bank is not its core business.

Net banking income multiplied by twelve
With $3.7 billion (€3.3 billion) in balance sheet as at December 31, 2018, $221 million in net banking income (twelve-fold increase since 2008, according to ECP) and 510,926 customers, Oragroup ranks eighteenth in the 2019 Jeune Afrique ranking of West African banks. In addition, BOAD will retain 40% of the capital of Orabank Côte d'Ivoire and its branches: Orabank Burkina, Orabank Guinea-Bissau, Orabank Mali, Orabank Niger and Orabank Senegal.

This transaction follows the listing of Oragroup on the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM) in April 2019, with 20% of its capital. The initiative had enabled the bank to raise $97 million, and IPS-CGRAE had subscribed to this public offer for 9% of Oragroup's floating capital.

"ECP is very proud of the progress made since oragroup acquired a stake and supported it in 2008," said Vincent Le Guennou, Co-CEO of Emerging Capital Partners. ECP's strategy is to create value in each of its investments by bringing all the company's activities up to international standards [...]. The IPO, and then this transaction, validate this strategy. »

"Financed by exceptional revenues, the acquisition of Oragroup is a historic date for CGREAE, which thus becomes a key player in the development and financing of our regional economies," said CEO Abdourahmane Tiémoko Berte. This pension fund and its 83,000 members "will sustainably strengthen the performance of the banking group and improve product offerings for the well-being of retirees and state employees, in Côte d'Ivoire and in the sub-region", concludes the press release published for the occasion.