After suffering losses of more than 1 billion euros, Orange has decided to exit retail banking and has started talks with BNP Paribas.
French telecom giant Orange is looking to exit the banking sector by selling Orange Bank BNP Paribas, Orange has now opened exclusive talks with BNP Paribas, which, if successful, will spin off Orange’s banking business.
Orange Bank has found itself in a bit more trouble since the telecom giant’s foray into retail banking. Orange Group started banking in 2016 after buying a majority stake in Groupama Banque. At the time, Stephen Richard oversaw acquisitions and new business as CEO. However, the current CEO, Christel Heidemann, is now looking to get rid of Orange Bank, hoping to sell it to BNP Paribas.
in one official releaseOrange Group says it started looking for a partner for Orange Bank after a strategic review months ago. Discussions will cover Orange Bank’s French client portfolio and partnerships related to the bank’s Spanish business.
Thierry Laborde, chief operating officer of BNP Paribas, expressed his excitement at the prospect of helping Orange Bank make a banking exit. According to Laborde, “As a long-standing partner of Orange Group and Orange Bank, we are naturally pleased to be able to provide complete continuity solutions to Orange Bank customers following Orange Group’s strategic choice to exit retail banking Are… We will support customers with solid banking packages and high-performance services.
According to Reuters, Orange Bank has suffered huge losses of more than 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) since its inception. reports, Another report states that Orange Bank Lost Last year around 200 million Euros.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Orange Bank could be fully banked by 2026. If negotiations go well, Orange Bank will merge with Hello Bank, the online banking arm of BNP Paribas. Hello Bank has 800,000 customers in France and a total of 3.3 million customers in Europe. The successful combination of Hello with Orange’s over 2 million customers, could put the merged company in a tough competition with other banking giants in the country. Orange Bank also currently has 700 employees.
It remains to be seen whether the talks will yield any result or not. Nonetheless, Orange Bank intends to maintain normal banking operations during its negotiations with BNP Paribas. Heidelman said:
“Our priority will be to provide exemplary support to all our employees and customers. This process will be carried out in full transparency, within the framework of our dialogue with our employee representative bodies.
The Orange Group wrote in the press release that this operation is only related to the business of Orange Bank in France and Spain. It also added that the outcome will not affect Orange Group’s financial outlook for the period 2023-2025. Also, the group promises to conduct all processes with complete transparency and in consultation with employee representative bodies. Furthermore, Orange Group assures full involvement of the relevant authorities and regulators in the entire process.
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