6 February 2006 - Gide Loyrette Nouel Casablanca advises Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne on its acquisition of an equity stake in Credit Immobilier et Hôtelier:

Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne and Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion signed an agreement, in the presence of Mr. Fathallah Oualalou, the Finance and Privatisation Minister, for the Caisse d'Epargne Group to acquire an equity stake in Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier, a Moroccan credit institution listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.

This agreement, which was signed on 25 January 2006, following the approval of the Moroccan Credit Institutions Committee, provides for the incorporation by Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion of a holding company to which the entire equity stake in Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier will be transferred. Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne will then be allotted a 35% stake in the holding company and Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion will retain a 65% interest. The agreement also provides for the hive down of CIH's outstanding claims into another corporate entity.

The value of the stake owned by Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne should be in the region of 110 million euros.

Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier has a hundred or so branches and a staff of around 1,400 employees. It is particularly well-positioned in the real estate financing sector, with a 20% market share. The two shareholders intend to make maximum use of available resources and synergies to transform Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier into a retail bank specialising principally in family banking and home financing. It will have an important role to play in energising the country's banking system.

For the purposes of this deal, CDG was assisted by Norton Rose (Alain Malek, partner). CNCE was represented by a legal team comprising the in-house legal department of CNCE (Djamel Seoudi) and Gide Loyrette Nouel (Hicham Naciri, partner, Yassir Ghorbal, Thomas Urlacher).