Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate: CORRECTED-SocGen, AXA eye first joint loans later this year

Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

CORRECTED-SocGen, AXA eye first joint loans later this year May 31st 2012, 18:43 Thu May 31, 2012 2:43pm EDT (Removes "co-head" from title in third paragraph) * Targeting small-to-mid-sized French corporates * Market could grow to 1-2 bln eur in 2-3 yrs -banker * AXA in talks with C.Agricole for similar venture -source By Lionel Laurent and Matthieu Protard PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - France's No. 2 listed bank Societe Generale and Europe's No. 2 insurer AXA are teaming up to offer funding to small-to-mid-sized companies against a backdrop of economic slowdown, with the first loans due later this year. It is a fresh indication of how banks, under pressure to cut back lending to comply with "Basel III" regulations designed to crack down on risk, are looking at ways to shift the burden of lending away from their balance sheets towards other investors. "We have projects underway and we hope to get two or three deals out in the next six months," said Guy Silvestre, of SocGen Midcaps Investment Banking. "We are helping clients diversify their funding sources even as we stay by their side." SocGen and AXA are targeting French companies with revenue above 250 million euros ($309.81 million) and gross debt above 150 million. The loans will be up to 100 million apiece, with AXA holding the majority share of each loan, said Silvestre. By leapfrogging debt capital markets and by using SocGen's own risk-rating system, the loans will be similar to a private-placement bond in the vein of Germany's "Schuldschein", he said. "This is a market that could be in the billions of euros, 1 to 2 billion, in two to three years' time (in France)," he said. AXA is also in advanced talks to create a similar funding partnership with SocGen rival Credit Agricole, according to a person close to the matter. ($1 = 0.8069 euros) (Additional reporting by Christian Plumb; Editing by James Regan) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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