PARIS, June 10 (Reuters) - Societe Generale is

struggling to agree a deal for its securities services unit,

with potential bidders baulking at the price the French bank

wants for the business, sources close to the matter said.

France's third-biggest listed lender has been trying to

offload Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) since last

year, the sources said, as part of wider efforts by Chief

Executive Slawomir Krupa to dispose of assets and streamline the

bank.

The bank is seeking more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion)

for the unit, according to media reports.

U.S. bank State Street, one of the world's largest

asset custodians after market leader BNY Mellon, has been in

talks to buy SGSS but the discussions have stalled, one source

said.

Both SocGen and State Street declined to comment.

While SocGen remains open to a sale at the right price, the

bank has decided selling SGSS is no longer a priority given the

unit provides a regular stream of liquidity that other parts of

the business need, two of the sources said.

The sources declined to be named because of the sensitivity

of the matter.

Other potential buyers include CACEIS, the asset servicing

business France's Credit Agricole co-owns with Spain's

Santander. CACEIS recently bought RBC Investor

Services' European activities.

SSGS provides the likes of asset managers and pensions funds

with services such as custody of assets.

The business saw its revenues fall 17.5% in 2023, SocGen

said in its annual report. The unit delivered 849 million euros

in revenues in 2022.

SGSS had 4.9 trillion euros in assets under custody at

end-December, making it the second-biggest assets custodian in

France after BNP Paribas.

SocGen in April agreed to sell its professional equipment

financing business to French rival BPCE for 1.1 billion euros.

The bank also agreed a sale of its Moroccan units in April, and

in December SocGen announced a deal to sell two African

subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Mozambique.

At market open on Monday, SocGen's shares had risen by close

to 12% since a poorly-received strategic plan presented by Krupa

last September. By comparison, the STOXX Europe 600 banks index

rose by close to 34% over the period.

SocGen's shares fell by around 7.5% on Monday after French

President Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary election,

spooking markets.

($1 = 0.9234 euros)