BNP Paribas Group finalized the €5.1 billion ($5.3 billion) purchase of AXA Investment Managers, in the biggest acquisition under Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe.
Both sides had agreed on the price and outlines of the deal when they announced in August that they had entered into exclusive negotiations.
BNP Paribas’ money management unit, BNP Paribas Asset Management, had €591 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30, with €342 billion in institutional AUM. Of its total AUM, €393.3 billion is classified as ESG AUM, according to its website. The firm runs strategies across listed and private assets.
AXA IM has about €859 billion in assets under management across equities, fixed income and alternatives strategies.
The transaction is expected to close by the middle of next year, and have an impact of 25 basis points on BNP Paribas’ CET1 ratio, the French lender said in a statement Dec. 28, confirming its previous guidance. The Common Equity Tier Ratio 1 is a measure of a bank's ability to withstand financial stress.
The deal will create one of Europe’s largest money managers, with roughly €1.5 trillion in assets overseen. A good chunk will be in popular and usually more lucrative markets such as private credit, infrastructure and real estate, where AXA adds more than €200 billion.
Prior to the purchase, the BNP CEO had shied away from big takeovers, deciding instead to return excess cash to shareholders after selling U.S. lender Bank of the West for $16.3 billion last year. The AXA deal will allow BNP to challenge Europe’s No. 1 in asset management, Amundi SA, although it would still be dwarfed by U.S. firms such as BlackRock or Vanguard Group.
AXA has said it plans to use proceeds from the sale for share buybacks and to fund growth.
