PARIS—French financial cooperative BPCE said it plans to buy out minority shareholders of its listed investment bank, Natixis SA, taking private the unit that has been plagued by bad bets and trading losses.
BPCE, closely held and one of France’s largest banking groups, said Tuesday it has made a formal offer for the nearly 30% stake it doesn’t already own in Natixis for about €3.7 billion, equivalent to roughly $4.5 billion. It plans to delist the Paris-based investment bank.
The buyout is part of a reset strategy to rein in risk, cut costs and restore confidence in the investment bank, analysts said.
The takeover would be the end of the road as a public company for Natixis, which was born through a merger in 2006 with aspirations to become an investment-banking player on a global scale.
The bank repeatedly ran into trouble. It suffered badly during the 2008-09 financial crisis. The government merged its parents, the retail-lending cooperatives Banque Fédérale des Banques Populaires and Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne, creating BPCE, and rescued Natixis. Natixis later set aside nearly half a billion euros for its role directing investor cash to funds managed by disgraced financier Bernard Madoff.
