Societe Generale annonces an additional €3 billion in financing for the Grand Paris project

As a partner of local public sector bodies and the bank of companies involved in the Grand Paris project, Societe Generale is actively contributing to the key environmental and social challenges of the future and is providing €3 billion in financing for the project ahead of 2024. This commitment comes in addition to the €2.5 billion the Group has already invested in this major project for the Ile-de-France region since 2018.
 

SUPPORTING THE RECOVERY AND BUILDING THE CITY OF TOMORROW

The scale of the Grand Paris project and the number of stakeholders involved make it a driving force for the recovery as well as providing an opportunity to think about differently about the cities of the future.

Accordingly, Societe Generale and its subsidiaries are increasing their support for the Grand Paris project and are committing €3 billion in financing by the summer of 2024,in three strategic areas: the public sector economy, real estate development and urban planning advisory services, and specialised financing.

In recent years, public and private sector entities and government authorities have given CSR issues real strategic importance. The public health and economic crises facing us all underscore the urgency of designing more responsible, inclusive, sustainable, positive impact cities. In accordance with the ambitions Societe Generale set out in its Transform to Grow strategic plan -which takes a long-term view of the positive transformation of our societies and economies -  the Group intends to play a major role in the planning and construction of the Paris metropolitan area.

Societe Generale has far-reaching ambitions in this area, for example through the development of carbon-free mobility solutions, the construction of eco-friendly neighbourhoods and by achieving low carbon targets. 

In addition, the infrastructure of the Grand Paris Express transport system, which lies at the heart of new districts that will be created or revitalised as new stations are built, offers many urban development opportunities, as will the sites used for the 2024 Olympic Games. Societe Generale will invest in both of these two exceptional projects for the Ile-de-France region.

“The additional €3 billion in bank loans for the Grand Paris project fully reflect our Group’s CSR commitments and our  intention to help develop a vibrant metropolitan area that uses less energy and meets the goals of the ecological transition while improving how we live together,” explained Eric Groven, Sponsor of the Grand Paris project and Head of Real Estate for the French retail banking networks.

NUMEROUS ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS 

For more than two years, Societe Generale has had a unique, cross-business governance structure with a dedicated team and an executive-level sponsor. This organisational structure has delivered on its promises, and in the first quarter of 2020, it had fully assigned the €2.5 billion in loans to public and private sector organisations announced in 2018. They were focused on three themes:
 

• A sustainable and inclusive public sector economy 

After arranging the inaugural 100% Green Bond issue by Société du Grand Paris, in February 2020, Societe Generale was Joint Lead Manager on the company’s fourth benchmark bond issue under the Green Euro Medium Term Note programme. This was its longest ever public Green Bond issue (50 years).

The Group also completed its first Green bank loan on the public sector economy market with a €30 million facility to finance a new household waste sorting centre in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. This project is being run by Syctom, a public service household waste treatment provider serving 6 million people in 85 towns across 12 areas of the Ile-de-France region. 
 

• Real estate development and urban planning advisory

SOGEPROM, the Group’s real estate development subsidiary, is the sponsor of a number of projects, in particular of the first edition of the “Inventing the Greater Paris Metropolis” competition, with developments such as the Village Bongarde¹ opposite the future Olympic Village in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, and Parcs en Scène² in Thiais and Orly, located near the new Pont de Rungis station on the Metro line 14.

SOGEPROM is also promoting mixed-use urban development projects, creating value for the Grand Paris metropolitan area and meeting new demand for denser, sustainable, desirable neighbourhoods, for example with Faubourg 17 in Clichy-la-Garenne³, the Référence project, at the heart of the new Chapelle International⁴ district, and Equinoxe⁵ in Cergy-Pontoise.

Another Group subsidiary is also active in the Grand Paris project, namely the startup LaVilleE+. This urban planning advisory firm supports projects for towns of the future with the goal of co-building sensitive, inclusive, sustainable, positive impact urban environments. La VilleE+ notably worked for the town of Ivry-sur-Seine in a public consultation for a sustainable real estate development in the Gagarine-Truillot district.
 

• Specialised financing

The Group has granted the Matérial Grand Paris joint venture (Razel and Eiffage) lease financing facilities for two tunnel boring machines to be used to build Metro line 15, for a total of €29 million.  Societe Generale was also involved in financing the Biology, Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals (BPC)  centre in Saclay in a partnership with the joint venture led by Bouygues and Paris Sud University for the design, construction, maintenance and financing of this flagship university project for the Paris region. 
 

1. The Village Bongarde project, designed by SOGEPROM and Vinci Immobilier, is a cornerstone of the transformation of the La Bongarde district of Villeneuve-la-Garenne, with ambitious ecological goals and an aim to improve how people live alongside one another.
    
2. SOGEPROM is also involved in the Parcs en Scène project in Thiais and Orly, alongside Bouygues Immobilier and Linkcity. This project will see the development of two ambitious mixed-use neighbourhoods, including nearly 4,000 homes (2,700 family homes and 1,300 specific homes), innovative hotels, shops, leisure activities, offices and local public services.
    
3. Faubourg 17, in Clichy-la-Garenne, includes five residential buildings, offices, a nursery and street-level shops. The development refocuses the neighbourhood around a large garden and a new mostly pedestrianised street.  
    
4. Référence, which lies at the heart of the new Chapelle International district, is one of the major public spaces of the future Grand Paris development (in the 18th arrondissement of Paris), with a mixed-use, multi-functional real estate programme spanning 150,000 m². This site is part of the Paris Climate Plan and will include offices, homes (45% of which are social housing), SOHOs (Small Office Home Offices), a multi-modal logistics centre that will allow goods to be transported directly to the centre of Paris, an urban farming space, rooftop sports facilities and everyday services to make residents’ lives easier.
    
5. Equinoxe, in Cergy-Pontoise, makes space for biodiversity in a landscaped area offering both homes (for purchase by low-income families or eligible for the intermediate rent scheme), a private nursery, a student residence and a tertiary building with a medical centre at street level.