BNP Paribas SA is in unique talks with Axa SA to purchase the insurer’s asset administration unit for €5.1 billion ($5.5 billion), a transfer that may create one in every of Europe’s largest cash managers.
The Paris-based financial institution will purchase 100% of Axa Funding Managers beneath the deal, which is anticipated to be signed by the top of the yr after session with the workers’ representatives, the lender mentioned in a press release Thursday.
The mixed entity could have about €1.5 trillion of property beneath administration, based mostly on figures for the top of 2023.
The 2 corporations will even enter right into a 15-year strategic partnership beneath which BNP Paribas will present funding administration providers to Axa. Bloomberg Information reported on talks between the 2 corporations for a possible tie-up of their asset administration items final month.
The acquisition is the most important deal but for BNP Chief Govt Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, who has been returning extra money to shareholders from the $16.3 billion sale of US lender Financial institution of the West, which closed final yr.
A uncommon instance of an insurer and financial institution combining their asset managers, the transaction introduced Thursday creates a prime participant in Europe by property beneath administration, though it should nonetheless be dwarfed by the likes of BlackRock Inc.
The mix “would drive our development over the long-term,” Bonnafe mentioned within the assertion.