CA Personal Finance & Mobility, the consumer finance and mobility provider under French bank Crédit Agricole Group, is acquiring a 50% stake in the leasing unit of Chinese state-owned automobile maker GAC Group for 2.1325 billion yuan ($299.8 million) via reserved capital increase.
The acquisition will enable CA Personal Finance to tap the financial and operational leasing solutions market in China in 2025, according to a recent announcement by Crédit Agricole.
The strategic investment will boost GAC Leasing’s registered capital to 3.4 billion yuan ($478 million) from 1.7 billion yuan ($239 million). GAC Group will hold the remaining 50% stake in GAC Leasing through its subsidiary post-transaction.
Founded in 2004, GAC Leasing offers financial and operating leasing solutions to GAC customers and its dealer network.
Auto leasing has emerged as a common approach for vehicle acquisition across developed markets, but it is in its early stages of development in the China market. Although China’s penetration rate of retail automobile finance lease services of both new and used automobiles remains low, the penetration rate is expected to hit 5.4% in 2027, according to independent industry consultancy CIC.
The penetration rate is defined by the ratio of the loan volume of the retail automobile finance lease serving of both new and used automobiles to the overall automobile sales volume, per CIC.