(Bloomberg) — BNP Paribas SA finalized the €5.1 billion ($5.3 billion) purchase of Axa SA’s asset management unit, in the biggest acquisition under Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Both sides had agreed on the price and outlines of the deal when they announced in August that they had entered into exclusive negotiations. 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 Saturday, confirming its previous guidance.
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 US 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 US firms such as BlackRock Inc. or Vanguard Group Inc.
Axa has said it plans to use proceeds from the sale for share buybacks and to fund growth.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
