Caisse des Dépôts (CDC)'s real estate arm Icade has made a binding offer to insurer Groupama, the majority owner of Silic, vith a view to combining its business with the Paris-listed real estate investment trust.

The deal will be carried out on the basis of an exchange ratio of five Icade shares for four Silic shares. It will be implemented in stages, with Phase I involving the acquisition by CDC of Groupama's 6.5% stake in Silic in exchange for a direct or indirect holding of about 2.7% of the share capital of Icade. At a later stage Icade will file an offer for the remaining shares of Silic.

The operation - to be carried out in shares - is expected to create France's largest real estate investment trust by market capitalisation and the largest business park owner in France with a portfolio of over EUR 9 bn.

The deal is expected to allow the distribution of a full-year 2011 dividend of EUR 3.70 per Icade share.

Groupama's sale is part of a plan to reduce exposure to equities to 5% by 2012 in an effort to comply with Solvency II requirements.