FRANCE TO SELL STAKE IN SOCIETE GENERALE UNIT

  The French government is to
  sell to the public its 47.42 pct direct holding in Societe
  Generale &lt;STGN.PA>'s regional bank subsidiary &lt;Societe Generale
  Alsacienne de Banque>, SOGENAL, from next Monday, SOGENAL
  officials said.
      SOGENAL, founded in 1881 and nationalised in 1982, is the
  leading French regional bank and has branches in Austria,
  Belgium, Luxembourg, East and West Germany and Switzerland.
      Chairman Rene Geronimus told a news conference the share
  offer price, expected to be announced tomorrow by Finance
  Minister Edouard Balladur, would be between 110 and 130 francs.
      Societe Generale, which will itself be privatised later
  this year, will retain its 52.58 pct majority holding in the
  bank, Chairman Marc Vienot said.
      SOGENAL officials said they forecast 1987 consolidated
  group profit of around 170 mln francs after an estimated 160
  mln this year and 159 mln in 1985.
      SOGENAL's privatisation will be preceded by a capital
  increase to 320 mln francs from 263 mln, earning about 250 mln
  francs in new funds. Its shares will be divided by eight,
  giving a capital of 12.8 mln shares of 25 francs nominal.
      The bank will be listed on the Nancy stock exchange, in
  line with the Finance Ministry and government's aim of a
  regional operation, Geronimus said.
      He said he was hoping for shareholders to total around
  30,000 to 35,000 against the 12,500 before nationalisation. Ten
  pct of the capital to be floated will be reserved for employees
  with the rest offered to the public. There will not be a share
  reserved for foreign investors. "This is too small an operation
  and anyway they will be able to buy shares in France," he said.
      Stockbroker sources said that a likely share offer price of
  120 francs would value SOGENAL at 1.5 billion francs.
      Geronimus said the bank's future aim would be to reinforce
  its existing strong points, with no major projects planned
  apart from the opening soon of a Basle branch.
      SOGENAL is the only French bank in Austria, it set up the
  first foreign exchange dealing room outside Paris at its
  Strasbourg headquarters in 1985, and is the only foreign
  banking subsidiary to be a broker on the Zurich Bourse.
      The government's banking adviser for the operation was
  &lt;Banque Privee de Gestion Financiere>, BPGF, owned by French
  financier Pierre Moussa's &lt;Pallas> group, assisted by Britain's
  &lt;Hambros Bank Ltd>.
  

