PARIS (Dow Jones) - Societe Generale is close to selling a U.S. commercial property loans portfolio to private equity company Blackstone Group for $100 million, as the French bank forges ahead with its restructuring plans, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.
The bank is expected to close the deal within a few weeks, this person said.
Like cross-town rivals BNP Paribas SA and Credit Agricole SA, Societe Generale, France's second-largest bank by market capitalization, is in the midst of a downsizing plan to increase its capital buffers and reduce its dependence on dollar-funding.
In September, the Paris-based lender said it would accelerate asset disposals and launched a cost-cutting plan aimed at freeing EUR4 billion ($5.3 billion) in capital by 2013.
A spokeswoman for Societe Generale declined to comment.
