Republic of Congo rejects SocGen's sale of subsidiary to Vista Group

The government of the Republic of Congo has said it will not recognise Societe Generale's sale of its country subsidiary to Vista Group because the bank did not give it a right of first refusal.

The government of the Republic of Congo has said it will not recognise Societe Generale's sale of its country subsidiary to Vista Group because the bank did not give it a right of first refusal. Congo's finance ministry said in a statement dated June 12 that it was surprised by the announcement by SocGen that it had sold some of its subsidiaries in Africa including in the Republic of Congo.

SocGen said on June 8 that it had reached an agreement to sell its subsidiaries in Congo Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea to Vista Group for an undisclosed amount. The bank owned 93.5% of Societe General Congo. "The Congolese state strongly denounces this approach and considers the agreement of the Societe Generale Group to sell its stake to the Vista Group as null," the finance ministry statement said, adding that it did not exclude the use of legal recourse against the Societe Generale.

An official of Congo's finance ministry confirmed the authenticity of the statement to Reuters on Thursday, adding that the government had been informed of the planned sale but had asked SocGen to hold off on any decision because it wanted to exercise its right of first refusal. Societe Generale did not immediately respond to a request for comment.