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Written by Sudip Kalu Gupta and Matthew Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) – Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell its U.S. operations to Victory Capital in exchange for a 26% stake in the U.S. company.
The move is aimed at strengthening Amundi’s access to the world’s largest financial market, and will give the French asset manager’s clients access to more products.
Instead, the deal includes a 15-year cross-sales agreement that will allow Victory Capital to serve more customers both domestically and internationally.
Amundi did not disclose the implied value of the Victory Capital shares resulting from the deal, but said the deal did not include any cash payments.
As Victory Capital’s new reference shareholder, Amundi will have representation on the U.S. asset manager’s board of directors, the company said.
“The proposed transaction with Victory Capital strengthens our presence in the U.S., while also providing an opportunity for us to invest in a well-regarded U.S.-based asset management firm with an excellent growth track record,” said Valerie Bordson, CEO of Amundi. “This is a unique opportunity to become a strategic shareholder.”
Victory Capital dates back to 1894, has a market capitalization of approximately $2.7 billion, and has total assets under management of $170 billion. Amundi is managed by French bank Credit Agricole SA, which has more than $2 trillion in assets under management.
The cross-selling agreement between the companies will allow Amundi to offer Victory Capital’s products outside the United States, and Victory Capital will offer Amundi’s non-U.S. manufactured products in the United States.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Inti Landauro, Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)
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