Crédit Agricole S.A. and BCC-Grupo Cajamar announce the signing of an agreement for a long-term partnership

Crédit Agricole S.A. and BCC-Grupo Cajamar, Spain’s largest cooperative banking group and one of the 10 significant Spanish institutions by asset volume, have signed a new strategic partnership that will enable Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar to ramp-up its commercial development and organic growth by allowing its customers to benefit from an even broader range of financial products and services tailored to their needs. This agreement will allow Crédit Agricole S.A. to ensure a wider development of its business lines in Spain with a strong cooperative partner.

This partnership, which entails Crédit Agricole S.A. obtaining a minority stake of 9.9% in Banco de Crédito Social Cooperativo, the parent entity of Grupo Cajamar, includes several commercial agreements in the areas of asset servicing, factoring, leasing and renting for vehicles and other goods, investment solutions, among others that may arise in the near future. 

The agreement builds on the two groups’ shared cooperative roots and will support Grupo Cajamar’s growth through Crédit Agricole’s expertise in selected financial businesses. 

In the short term, it will further strengthen Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar’s own fund’s structure, raising its total capital ratio from 16.6% to 17.1%. For Crédit Agricole S.A., the impact on its CET1 ratio will be non-significant. 

In the medium term, the agreement will enhance the positioning of Grupo Cajamar’s 18 rural savings banks in the commercial segments covered by the agreement and will have a positive impact on revenues for both Crédit Agricole S.A. and Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar.

This transaction is subject to non-opposition by the competent authorities and is expected to be finalized in the coming months. The transaction is fully aligned with Crédit Agricole S.A.’s financial investment criteria as well as with the objectives set by Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar.

For Manuel Yebra, CEO of BCC-Grupo Cajamar, “the incorporation of one of Europe’s largest banking groups as a shareholder, sharing the same affinity with the cooperative credit model, will provide further momentum to our expansion and development strategy, both territorially and in terms of the range and diversification of financial products and services offered to the more than 3.9 million customers of Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar".

For Olivier Gavalda, CEO of Crédit Agricole S.A., “This agreement with BCC-Grupo Cajamar will enable Crédit Agricole S.A.’s business lines to further develop their activities in Spain with a cooperative bank providing Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar’s customers with a wider range of financial products and services".