Natixis and La Banque Postale agreed to merge their respective fixed-income and insurance-related asset management businesses, a Natixis spokeswoman confirmed in an email.
The new entity will combine Natixis’ Ostrum Asset Management and La Banque Postale Asset Management into a new Europe-focused institutional asset manager with more than €415 billion ($465.5 billion) in assets under management. It will retain the name Ostrum Asset Management.
Through the deal, Natixis and La Banque Postale will own 55% and 45%, respectively, of the new joint entity.
Ostrum Asset Management CEO Philippe Setbon will lead the new company, while Mathieu Cheula, La Banque Postale AM’s chief information and operation officer who will join La Banque Postale AM’s management board Sept. 1, will be deputy CEO and join Ostrum AM once the deal closes.
The new firm’s executive committee will be composed of the following Ostrum and LBP executives: Ibrahima Kobar, chief investment officer (Ostrum); Guillaume Abel, head of business development (LBP AM); Valerie Derambure, head of finance, strategy and transformation (LBP AM); Julien Raimbault, head of operations and IT/technologies (LBP AM); Emmanuelle Portelle, head of compliance and internal control (Ostrum); Remi Ardaillou, head of risk (LBP AM); and Sylvie Soulere Guidat, head of human resources (Ostrum). They will retain their positions.
The formation of the joint entity is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.
