Natixis and Generali are in talks to merge their wealth management divisions, according to industry reports.
French firm Natixis holds €1.3 trillion in AUM, while Italy’s Generali is a far smaller player with just €840 billion. If the merger is completed, the resulting more than €2 trillion asset manager would be in Europe’s top five.
The partnership would follow a similar Earlier this year, BNP Paribas entered negotiations to acquire the smaller AXA Investment Managers for €5.1 billion. If completed, this would create a €1.5 trillion European asset manager.
READ MORE: New giant on the horizon as BNP Paribas confirms plans to acquire AXA IM
UniCredit has also dived back into the asset management space this year, launching a €10 billion bid for BancoBPM earlier this week. The acquisition would make the bank the third largest in Europe by market cap.
READ MORE: UniCredit could rebuild fund business with Banco BPM acquisition
Both Natixis and Generali declined to comment on the reports, with Natixis parent company Groupe BPCE stating that it had “no comment on [the] rumors market”.
In June, the group included implementing partnerships to boost its growth model as part of its 2030 strategic plan. “We are creating industrial and financial partnerships to do better, do more, drive change and invent,” it stated. “Partnerships enable us to gain in quality and scale to provide our clients with optimum service.”
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