Crédit Agricole and Société Générale are to combine their investment operations to create Europe’s fourth largest asset manager and the ninth in the world by assets under management.
A preliminary agreement has been signed between the French banks under which the European, Asian and a fifth of the US asset management operations of Soc Gen will join with Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM). The ownership of the new fund house will be split 70-30 in favour of Crédit Agricole.
It will have €638bn under management and access to 50 million retail banking customers globally, according to the banks.
The business will provide in-house investment management for the two retail banking operations, as well as serving the institutional and intermediary markets.
It will have a presence in 37 countries, with core centres in France, the UK, US, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The firms said the merger would create product efficiency and lead to savings of €120m in three years, while also maximising distribution potential for both businesses.
Chief executive of Crédit Agricole, Georges Pauget, said: “This combination reflects the strategic logic of the Crédit Agricole business model, which is based on an overall approach from product design to market launch.”
