BPCE, a French banking group, completed the acquisition of the remaining 29.3% stake in Natixis, a French corporate and investment bank, for $4.4bn. "At the completion of this project, which represents a key milestone in Groupe BPCE’s history, the Group will have a simpler and clearer organisation to accelerate the development of all its activities and increase their strategic flexibility. This project will allow us to reinforce our model as an ambitious leading universal cooperative bank, Europe’s largest privately-held banking group, able to address key future challenges," Laurent Mignon, Groupe BPCE Chairman and CEO.