BNP Paribas in talks to buy AXA Investment Managers for €5.1bn

October 2024 | DEALFRONT | MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Financier Worldwide Magazine

October 2024 Issue

BNP Paribas has agreed to acquire AXA Investment Managers in a deal worth €5.4bn, both firms have announced. Under the terms of the deal, BNP Paribas will pay €5.1bn for AXA IM, while French insurance giant AXA will receive a further €300m for the sale of its Select division prior to the sale to BNP Paribas.

The deal is expected to close by the second quarter of 2025, following regulatory approval. According to a BNP statement, the combined entity would have total assets under management of about €1.5 trillion and would become one of the top European asset managers after leader Amundi, which had around €2.16 trillion of assets under management at the end of June.

Under the terms of the deal, AXA and BNP Paribas will also enter into a long-term strategic partnership under which BNP Paribas would provide investment management services to AXA.

This would include AXA IM Alts, which manages €82bn in private real estate, €90bn in private debt and alternative credit, and €17bn in infrastructure. At the end of 2023, BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management managed €26.1bn in real estate assets, while BNP Asset Management managed €2.7bn in infrastructure investments.

The newly combined business would become a leading European player in the asset management sector, becoming the European leader in managing long-term savings assets for insurers as well as pension funds, with €850bn of assets.

“Benefiting from a critical size in public and alternative assets, BNP Paribas would serve its customer base of insurers, pension funds, banking networks and distributors more efficiently,” said Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, director and chief executive of BNP Paribas. “The strategic partnership entered into with AXA, the cornerstone of this project, confirms the ability of both our groups to join forces. This major project, which would drive our growth over the long-term, would represent a powerful engine of growth for our Group.”

“AXA Investment Managers has been a homegrown success story for the AXA Group,” said Thomas Buberl, chief executive of AXA. “Over the past 25 years, we have built an exceptional franchise anchored in investment expertise, a relentless client focus and a proven track record on sustainability. Thanks to the quality of its teams, AXA IM is today a leading player, notably in Alternatives in Europe. By joining forces with BNP Paribas, AXA IM would become a global asset manager with a wider product offering and a mutual objective to further their leading position in responsible investing.”

“The creation, within the Investment & Protection Services (IPS) division of the BNP Paribas Group, of a European leader in the management of long-term insurance and savings assets, would enable the IPS division to exceed €2 trillion of assets entrusted by its clients,” said Renaud Dumora, deputy chief operating officer, IPS of BNP Paribas. “This operation would allow BNP Paribas Cardif to benefit from premium access to the services of an asset management expert on the asset classes required for insurance management. The combined expertise of the BNP Paribas Asset Management and AXA IM teams in public and private assets, as well as their leadership in sustainability, would be valuable assets to better meet future needs of clients.”

In addition to announcing the agreement with BNP Paribas, AXA also presented its financial results for the first six months of the year in August. The company’s gross revenue reached €59.9bn, representing a 7 percent increase over the previous year’s results. The operating result stands at €4.2bn, up 4 percent. Additionally, AXA announced the acquisition of Nobis, an insurance company focused on the retail market in Italy.

Richard Summerfield