Amundi is in exclusive negotiations with Lyxor's parent company to acquire the European exchange-traded funds specialist in a €825 million ($970 million) deal.
The transaction would create a €142 billion ETFs manager, Amundi said in a news release Wednesday. Lyxor is owned by Societe Generale and was founded in 1998.
Lyxor has €124 billion in assets under management as of December, with €77 billion in ETFs and €47 billion in active management assets under management. The deal would accelerate Amundi's development in the ETFs market and also complement its offering in active management — in particular in liquid alternative assets as well as advisory solutions, the release said.
By bolstering France-based Amundi's passive money management business, the move also "will contribute to the post-Brexit positioning of the Paris financial center," Yves Perrier, CEO of Amundi, said in the release.
The deal is also fully aligned with Amundi owner Credit Agricole's group strategy, which aims to reinforce the financial services firm's position in asset gathering, the release added.
The deal is expected to complete by February 2022 at the latest, following various approvals. Both brands will continue to co-exist until the deal closes and nothing has yet been decided for the brands, an Amundi spokeswoman said. Amundi does not anticipate any departures of key people at Lyxor — its management team has actively participated in the process, alongside SocGen, and was involved in all key steps of the deal, the spokeswoman added.
Amundi has a total €1.7 trillion in assets under management.
