Cauris Croissance sells its stake in BPEC

CAURIS CROISSANCE SELLS ITS STAKE IN BANQUE POPULAIRE POUR L’ÉPARGNE ET LE CRÉDIT (BPEC)

Cauris Croissance, the second fund under management at Cauris Management, the West African private equity fund manager, confirms the sale of its stake in BPEC to the bank’s new reference shareholder, the SUNU group, which thereby strengthens its majority position a few months after being approved by the Banking Commission. The initial investment of FCFA 1 billion was made in 2010, followed by a further investment of FCFA 700 million in 2015.

Created when Caisse d’Épargne du Togo (CET) was converted into Banque Populaire pour l’Épargne et le Crédit (BPEC) in 2007, BPEC focused on collecting and protecting small savings and on providing everyday banking services to its customers, through its network of 27 branches across the country.

The initial investment by Cauris Croissance in BPEC made it possible to strengthen equity in order to comply with the regulation of the time, which set the minimum share capital of banks at FCFA 5 billion, and to relaunch the business.

For Noël Yawo Z. Eklo, Chief Executive Officer of Cauris Management, « the involvement of Cauris Croissance made it possible to institutionalise the shareholding of BPEC at a time when the State was withdrawing, to strengthen governance and internal procedures, and to complete the privatisation of the bank through the negotiations initiated by Cauris Management with the SUNU group, which led to their majority stake in the bank ».