12 February 2008 - Gide Loyrette Nouel advises Groupama over its strategic partnership with OTP Bank in Central and Eastern Europe:

Gide Loyrette Nouel's Budapest and Paris offices, in liaison with its offices in Belgrade, Brussels, Bucharest, Kiev, London and Moscow, have advised Groupama over the wrapping up of its partnership with OTP Bank.

This long term partnership covers the distribution of life insurance, non-life insurance and banking products in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Ukraine and Russia.

Groupama has agreed to purchase from OTP Bank 100% of the capital of OTP Garancia, one of the largest composite insurance companies in Hungary, and the largest bancassurance partner in terms of premiums sold through banking channels, with insurance subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. This partnership includes the conclusion of agreements of bancassurance and assurbanking which will in the long run cover all of the nine countries in which OTP currently operates. The total consideration for the acquisition and distribution partnership is HUF 164 billion, or EUR 617 million (USD 895 million).

Groupama has equally committed to acquire up to 8% of the existing shares of OTP Bank, a first section of 5% having to be acquired at closing. OTP Bank has entered into a derivative transaction with Deutsche Bank AG to facilitate the acquisition of that 5% stake.

OTP Bank is the largest independent bank in Central and Eastern Europe, operating in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Montenegro and Russia. It is the largest bank in Hungary, Bulgaria and Montenegro, with market shares of 20%, 13% and 37% respectively. OTP Bank is the eighth largest bank in Ukraine and the tenth largest bank in Serbia. Groupama is present in Hungary and Romania.

Legal counsel for Groupama:
The teams at Gide Loyrette Nouel were coordinated by Jacques de Servigny (partner in charge of the Budapest Office) and Jean-Gabriel Flandrois (M&A - Paris), with the support of Richard Ghueldre and Orsolya Hegedus (insurance law), Balázs Ferenczy and Edouard Bottling (regulatory and financial aspects), Stéphane Hautbourg, Laurent Godfroid and András Palásthy (competition law), Jean-Charles Albitre, Charles Cruden, Lászlo Agai and Cira Caroscio (M&A).